Grimm Tales: A RWBY Fan Fiction
by darkesper
Summary: There's a story that needs to be told... one about a little red girl in a big horrible world. This little red girl constantly had dreams of pain, dreams of death, dreams of tragedy. This little girl had a life that mirrored these dreams. She was a sad child who was tired... a sad child who simply wanted to sleep forever... She had a very grim tale... and this is how it goes...
1. 1: A Tale of Two Sisters

**Once upon a time, there was a little red girl. This little red girl had dreams filled with roses. She had these dreams every night. It was always the same exact dream, and this is how it would go.**

**The little red girl would be sleeping in a wonderful field of beautiful flowers under the bright blue sky. She would always wear a cute little white dress that gently blew in the cool breeze of summer. Her bright red hair would tickle her tiny nose and she would giggle herself awake. She'd sit up rubbing her tiny silver eyes and smile brightly, rested from her long nap.**

**Once she was fully awake, she would stand to her two feet and dust herself off, stretch, and yawn loudly, before smiling up at the wonderful blue sea above.**

**A white rose petal would gently fall on her forehead and she would take it in hand. As she inspects it, she would start to notice more and more of them circle her in the breeze. They would float off into the sky and she would watch them leave. The little red girl would grow curious as to where these pretty little roses came from and search the fields, following the directions from where they came.**

**She would run and run, sometimes trip, but always get back up and run some more. The closer she came to the source, the more roses would float around her. And eventually, she would find what she was looking for…**

**She would look to the long, white-coated figure with astonishment of how one being could be that beautiful. Her eyes would sparkle in wonder, but she would also be strangely nervous. She was always worried about going up to the beautiful cloaked figure, afraid of bothering it's silent meditating.**

**However, in spite of that fear, she would always approach, whether she wanted to or not. The pure sight of that lone figure would cause her mind to go blank and she would heed to the alluring calls of the beauty before her. Slowly, she walked to her destination and reached out. The white cloak would be in her reach. She would simply need to grab hold of it. So, she would. And every time she did…**

**A red sea would appear.**

**A body of blood red would stretch endlessly. A dark sky loomed above. Over the horizon, a large red moon sat, piercing into her fragile heart. The light would shine on her and illuminate her sole existence in that horrid place.**

**And every time, she would curl up and clasp her hands to her head. Her silver eyes would squeeze shut. And every time, she would scream, "Why do I keep coming here?! Why does this keep happening?!"**

**She would bash her head and pinch herself, bite her own arm until blood pooled down it, yank her own red hair, and even fall into the red sea. But it never mattered. She would always float back to the surface and she would always see the same dark sky and the same red moon. As she floats there, sad, scared, alone, she feels tears start to stream down her cheeks.**

**She starts to sob silently to herself, "I don't want to do this anymore… I don't want to come her anymore… I hate this place…" Her tears would stream even more. "I want to go home, momma… Please just take me home… Please…"**

**But every time… no one would answer. And every time… she was forever alone…**

**Such is the tale of the little red girl…**

* * *

**1**

**A Tale of Two Sisters**

* * *

"Ruby… Ruby!"

She turns in the direction of the voice that called out to her. The much older, blonde man smiles from his seat on the bench. She gives him a questioning look as she pulls down her red headphones from her ears. He simply points behind the young girl, prompting her to look in the direction he motioned to. Her lips parted and her eyes widened at the sight.

"Is that…?"

The golden blonde hair made the woman stand out from the crowd of wandering civilians going about their own business. Her sparkling purple eyes wandered around the area most likely in search of the family that had been waiting for her arrival. She held a large duffle bag on her left hand, her bandaged right carrying a small, ruffled piece of paper. The young red head wanted to yell out for the blonde's attention, but that wouldn't be necessary. She finds herself staring into bright purple eyes as she's finally noticed.

A large smile spreads across the older girl's face and she begins to wave excitedly at the child. Taking up her travel bag, she starts to walk over fast. However, the young girl can no longer contain herself and she sprints the rest of the way. The moment the distance is closed between the two girls, Ruby wraps her arms around the blonde tightly, a large smile on her face.

"God, I missed this", the blonde says as she returns her little sister's warm embrace.

"I missed you, Yang…", Ruby says softly, an uncontainable happiness in her voice.

Yang smiles as she buries her face into her sibling's red hair. "Right back at you, sis…"

"Yang Xiao Long, what is with that hair?!"

She could actually feel her older sister go stiff at the sound of their mother's voice. Ruby, arms still around Yang, turns to her mother to see her walking toward the two with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why the hell is it so long?" her mother nags, "Do they not have barbershops up in Beacon?"

"Good to see you, too, mom. Yeah, I'm fine, how about you? Of course I had fun at school. It was a blast", Yang says sarcastically.

"Don't you get smart with me, young lady. Did I, or did I not tell you take care of yourself while away? Why did you let your hair grow out so much?"

Mo~m! I just got home. Do you think you could hold off on the nagging until we at least get to the house?"

"Song, are really going to bash on Yang already?" their dad steps in sounding just as annoyed as Yang did.

"You bet your ass I'm gonna bash on her", her mom says, "I mean, look at that hair, it reaches down to the back of her friggin' knees!"

"Swear." Ruby decides to cut in.

Her mother looks down at her. "What?"

"You said a swear. You know swearing isn't allowed, Song."

Her mom's eye twitches at Ruby's words and Yang can be seen smirking mockingly at the much older blonde.

"Okay, whatever", she says, throwing her hands up, vexed, "Little piss-ant…"

"Swear", Ruby catches that.

"Oh my god, how did you even hear…?! Fine! Sheesh! Can we just go home and get some dinner already?"

Yang grins at Ruby as their mother storms off, still going off at the mouth. "God, I missed you, baby sis." The red head smiles up at her sister.

"Want me to get that for you, sweetie?" their dad asks Yang, pointing to her bag.

"Nah, I got it, pops. Come on, sis, I've been on that train for hours and I am starving."

"Yeah" Ruby says as she takes Yang's free hand, "Song made a huge meal for us, too!"

"Really? What'd she cook?"

"Oh, a whole BUNCH of stuff! It's practically a feast at home! When we left she had just made…"

The two sister's conversation goes on as they walk to the car. Their father places his hands in his pockets with a small grin. "Looks like the gang's all back together."

With that, he follows behind his family to get his girls home and fill their bellies up with his wife's heavenly cooking.

**This is Remnant. This is the world we live in. It's a world full of wonder and beauty. It is also a world filled with darkness and strife. Mankind resides under the mercy of a beast. A beast we know as Grimm; harbingers of destruction and vessels of black. They seek one thing and one thing only: to bring about the destruction of all life. They are driven by nothing other than that.**

**Humanity, however, did not take too kindly to such malicious agendas. Humanity rose to the challenge and decided to fight back with it's oppressors in an all out war to maintain their right to life in this beautiful yet cruel world.**

**Specially chosen individuals are chosen to combat creatures of black and send them back to the depths of hell from which they came. They are the last line of defense against the Grimm, and the only thing keeping humanity from facing extinction.**

**These warriors are known as Hunters. They are the last hope for survival.**

**A simple of tale of good and evil is all this is. But when has anything ever been that simple. Why would such a conflict boil down to such black and white morals? How could anyone ever believe such a tale as this? No… This is not the story of humanity's plight against the darkness. This isn't the legend of a simple war. This is not the folklore of hero's against villains.**

**This is the tale of path of darkness that one young girl will be forced to take. This is the tale of a young girl destined for pain.**

**And this tale begins in a small city. A small city called Patch. A small city a certain little red girl called home.**

* * *

**Present Time**

* * *

"Guh!"

She gasps loudly as her eyes snap open. Her skin was covered in a cold sweat, the top of her tank top drenched. She could feel herself trembling a little as if this were the first time she had a moment like this. But, no matter how many times she went through this same song and dance, she would never get used to it.

Taking deep breath, she takes a moment to calm down. When her heart finally starts to beat at a more manageable pace, she slowly raises herself up from the bed she lay on. Her eyes adjust to the dark of the apartment bedroom as she scans around the area. A dim moonlight seeped through the curtains next to her bed.

Across from her was a second bed, occupied at the moment. The body of her sister lies with her back to Ruby, making no indication that she had heard Ruby's cry.

The red haired girl puts her face in her hands and groans. Throwing the covers aside, she swings her feet out of bed and stands up from it. She walks toward the desk that sat between the two beds and reaches for the chair, draped in her familiar red jacket. She swings the garment over her shoulders and puts her arms through the sleeves before adjusting and zipping the cloak like jacket up.

Pulling the hood over her head, she walks toward the door and-

"Sis."

The young girl stops short just before coming into contact with the doorknob, but doesn't turn toward her blonde sister.

"Same dream?" Yang asks. Ruby nods her head. "You okay?"

Ruby sighs and takes the knob in hand. "Yeah, I'm... I'll live. Just getting some air."

"Need me to join you?"

Ruby opens the door. "I'll be okay. Go back to sleep, Yang." With that, she closes the door, leaving her older sister to sigh and fall back to her pillow.

* * *

The door to the rooftop opens and Ruby walks out on to it, shutting the door behind herself. She strides over to the railing at the edge, her cloak like jacket flowing behind her. She reaches the rail post and leans over it, her eyes looking over the large expanse of Vale City.

It shined bright in the 4 a.m. night as the night owls explored the late hours of the city. Minors were meant to be indoors at this time, courtesy of the curfew hours set on them. Though, honestly, anybody would normally be in doors this late into the night anyhow.

However, Ruby wasn't so lucky to be able to simply lie in bed and "call it a day". Her constant dreams made sure of that.

She reaches into her jacket and withdraws a red booklet, complete with fuzzy bunny pen. She took a moment to look at it and shake it's bobbing head, smirking at the amusing little guy. After the moment of childishness, she flips the book to the next open page and begins to write.

_Same dream again..._

_But was else is new? This is the second time tonight it's happened. That red water, the black moon... Is that the only thing my mind can think up? I know I should be far too used to the nightmare by now, but... I don't know, I never can just do that. It's easier said than done._

_I'm actually scared to go back to sleep right now, because I know it's just going to repeat like all the other times. I don't want to see those horrible images again. I don't want to ever be that scared... I don't like it..._

_Maybe one day they'll stop. That's the only thing I can hope for at this point. Unlike everything else that hurts me, I can't just obliterate those thoughts. I wish I could though. I wish that stupid dream would die..._

She shuts the book, not feeling the slightest bit of relief from the jotting of her thoughts. If anything, she just wasted her time with that. She hops up on top of the railing and sits down. Her eyes wander up to the dark blue sky above, no stars in sight. Her eyes slowly shut and she lets the cool air wrap around her, in hopes of the bad dreams being carried off in the wind.

"Like that's ever gonna happen..." she says to herself.

* * *

**Past Time**

* * *

"Oh my god, thank the lord! Finally! I've waited so long for some real food!"

Their mother laughs at Yang's humorous reaction as she carries the last tray of the large dinner to the table. "What, the food at Beacon that bad, or something?"

"Nah, I wouldn't say it's terrible. It just ain't this! No ones beats your cooking, ma'!"

Song puts the plate on the table and snorts. "Well, at least I know I'm guaranteed approval from you. Dig in, kiddo, have as much as you want."

"Well, don't mind if I do!" And thus, Yang proceeds to stuff as much food in her face as it would allow her.

"Hey, don't hog it all to yourself, let me get in on that action!" their mom says as she watches her daughter drown herself in various dishes.

And thus, Song decides to show off where her daughters ungodly appetite comes from and starts to chuck even more food into her own mouth.

Ruby and her dad look back and forward between the two female blondes, the male blonde sipping on his cup of coffee. "Ah, it's good to have the whole family back together. So, Yang, did you have a good time at Beacon?" Tannor decides to cut into mother and daughter's food massacre.

Yang stops herself from putting another fork full in her mouth and swallows what she already had been chewing. She lets out a loud belch and answers the question asked. "Oh, you have no idea how awesome it was there! Other than the boring required courses, everything else was freakin' sweet!"

Song swallows her food and speaks. "They teach you much this time around? That old fart Port still there?"

Yang groans loudly at the name. "Oh, he's still there all right. Don't even get me started on professor Pork. It was an actual struggle to get through one of his classes without wanting to punch myself unconscious. The guy's worse than watching paint dry."

Their mother laughs. "Actually, I think that might be better than sitting through one of his lectures." The mother and daughter share a laugh, Ruby smiling at the scene.

"So, Yang, how much did you learn about being a Huntress?" Ruby asks, taking a bite from her chicken.

Yang stuffs a fork full of rice into her mouth. "Eh, kind of sort of. Most of it was stuff mom had taught me before hand. What kinds of Grimm there are, their sweet spots, formations; all that jazz. But, we did get to see some Grimm up close and personal."

Ruby audibly gasps at that. "You're joking! They actually let you fight real Grimm?!"

"Thaaaat's right! Got to take on a whole group of Beowolves once. We even fought some Ursi."

Ruby's hands shoot up to her mouth. "How many…?" Yang smirks and puts up three of her fingers, causing Ruby's eyes to almost pop out of their sockets. "Oh my gosh, I HAVE to go to Beacon! It sounds amazing there!"

"Whoa, slow down there, baby girl", their father says while putting his cup down, "You still have two more years at Signal before you can even think about Beacon. And you still have to be accepted."

Ruby sighs "I know-I know. I'm just really excited to go there is all. I can hardly wait."

Yang perks up at the short conversation. "You… want to apply to Beacon?"

"Yeah, of course!" Ruby answers enthusiastically. "I'm gonna become a Huntress just like you and Song!"

"Don't worry Yang, we're just as surprised as you", their mother speaks up, "She only just recently told us, too."

"I've been training really hard this whole time. I even managed to get into the Huntress regime and forge my… Oh snap, that's right! I almost forgot! Yang, I want to show you something I've been saving as a surprise for when you came home! Hold on just one second, I'll go get it!"

"Wait, go get what?" Yang tries to ask her sister as she runs off, "What are about to show me?" She sighs then turns to her parents.

"Give it a minute", her dad says.

A few seconds later and footsteps can be heard rushing back to the dining room area. Ruby rushes in, stumbling as she tries to stop in her run. She stands erect while holding something behind her back with a huge smile her face.

Yang can't help but to smile and raise her brow. "Well, you gonna show me what you've got there."

Ruby chuckles, before taking on a confident expression and revealing what was behind her back. "Ta-Da!"

And it's… a red… thing…

The two sisters stare at each other for a moment, Ruby never leaving her stance. Yang waits for something to happen, but, ultimately, nothing really does. "Okay… What is it?"

"Well, what does it look like?" Ruby asks.

"A red thing-a-ma-gigger."

Ruby groans. "No, Yang, it is not just a 'red-thing-a-ma-gigger'. It's… Guh, just hang on a second."

That's when Ruby takes her red… thing and holds out in front of her. She tampers with the object and a clicking sound is heard. The object starts to unfold and grow before Yang's eyes. A blade elongates from the tip and Ruby swings it over her shoulder, assuming a cheesy pose, complete with "V" sign.

"Well? What do you think?"

Yang stares. "…That's a scythe."

"Yes, Yang. It's a scythe."

"It's a really big scythe."

"It's also a customizable, high impact, sniper rifle."

"Lost me."

She cocks the handle. "It's a also a gun."

"Gotcha. Dad, why does a 13-year-old girl have a giant sniper scythe and why are you okay with this?"

Their dad puts his mug down. "Yang, your sister worked really hard on her weapon. Yes, it may be a bit…" He looks at Ruby, who seems to be making out with her scythe. "…over zealous, but her weapon is an extension of herself; an expression of her creativity. And besides, you made those gauntlets of yours when you were her age."

"Uh-huh. Right. Mom, you're thoughts."

Song shrugs. "That thing's freakin' awesome."

Yang sighs and stands up. "Yeah. Right. Sis, we need to have a little chat."

Ruby pauses her Scythe snuggling and looks at her sister. "Yang, what's-"

"In private."

Now Ruby is a bit sheepish. The tone of Yang's voice made her hairs on the back of her neck stick up on end. It was the tone of voice Yang used when they were kids and she wasn't too happy with the red head. Ruby gulps nervously and collapses her scythe before placing it on the kitchen counter. Slowly, she follows Yang, who had walked to the door, holding it open for Ruby to walk through. Once she does, she closes the door behind the two, leaving their parents behind.

Their father sighs. "Well, you called it, Yang isn't happy. Think she's going to chew Ruby out?"

Song takes a bite of her dinner. "Hell if I know. I told Ruby not to tell her yet. But, in any case, the brats are gone so more food me." Song proceeds to reach over and takes Yang's plate, scrapping it's contents on top of her own.

"…You know Yang's gonna be pissed, right."

"Bite me."

"Are you giving me permission?"

"Haha, smooth. But not right now. Food first. Fun time later." And she begins to stuff her face.

* * *

**Present Time**

* * *

She can hear the door open behind her. She doesn't even bother turning around, as she already knows who it was that came up. Her eyes roll at the fact that she called this happening.

"Could have sworn I said I was okay", she says.

"Well, you know how I am with you." Ruby finds her neck entangled in the arms of her sister, Yang. The blonde puts her chin on top of Ruby's head. "You've been up here an hour. Just checking on ya', that's all."

"You didn't have to."

"If I didn't, I would never get back to sleep."

The two sisters stare out into the cityscape, not talking for a moment. Ruby's hand comes up and takes hold of a strand of Yang's long blond hair hanging down, playing with it between her fingers.

"You should really get this cut", Ruby says, "It's getting too long."

"You already know what I'm about to say to that, so why do you keep bringing it up."

"I do it just to mess with you, sis."

"Well, you enjoy 'messing with me', but if you touch my hair, I will end you, ya' little butt sniffer."

"I'm touching it."

"Har-Har. Don't get smart with me", Yang says as she lightly smack Ruby's forehead, "It's like you're getting more sarcastic by the day."

"I've gotta keep up with you. Can't have you being to only jerk, now can we?"

"I am not a jerk. I am offended you would even think something like that about your own sister. I think I might cry."

Ruby mock gasps as she turns around toward Yang. "Well that just will not do. I cannot let such a travesty stand." That's when Ruby jumps down and takes the hem of Yang's shirt in hands.

Yang looks alarmed. "Sis? W-What are you doing?"

"Well, I can't have my big sister crying? As a responsible younger sibling such as myself, I must mend this atrocity by the only means I can think of at the moment." Ruby lifts Yang's shirt, revealing her navel.

Yang's eyes widen as she realizes what's about to happen. "Oh my god, Ruby, you better not."

"Too late."

"Ruby, I swear to Christ."

"Go ahead. Still gonna do it."

"Ruby!"

"That's my name."

Taking a deep breath, Ruby plants her lips on Yang's exposed stomach and blows, giving the blonde a raspberry.

"Oh my-hahahaha!" Yang begins to laugh hysterically, trying desperately to push Ruby off of her. "Ruby- hahahah! Ruby, stop! Rub-"

She falls to her back as Ruby continue to blow. Tears start to form in the blonde's eyes as she laughs uncontrollably.

"Ruby, please- hahahaha! Please, sis, I'm beggin' ya'- hahaha! Ruby, stop!"

Finally satisfied, Ruby lets up and looks down at the erratically breathing Yang. A smile pulls on her lips and Ruby can't help but to chuckle a little.

Yang looks up at Ruby. "You are... a little bastard... you know that...?" she says between deep breaths.

"Swear."

"Oh shut up." Her head falls to the rooftop and she continues to try and catch her breath.

Ruby decides to join her and lies down next to Yang, the two now looking up to the sky above. "I love you."

"Yeah, I guess you're okay, too", Yang says back.

Ruby chuckles again. "I really needed a good laugh for once..."

* * *

**Past Time**

* * *

**Ruby had always dreamed of being a Huntress, despite the surprise of her parents and sister. In actuality, she had wanted to become one ever since she was little girl.**

_"**When I grow up, I'm gonna be the greatest huntress ever! Then people will love me and give me all the cookies I want!"**_

…**Little Ruby was a little weird. I don't even know what that second part had to do with… anything, really.**

**Ah-hum. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right, anyway.**

**Little Ruby knew she had to become a Huntress, especially since Yang and her mother were as well, and rather strong ones at that. And with Yang training to be one, Ruby felt it only right to follow in her big sister's footsteps. She thought it would be an "ultra super lighting rose tag team" opportunity.**

**There was, however, one little problem. There's a reason she hadn't told Yang about her plan, after all.**

They'd been walking for 15 minutes now. The small town was silent as it's residence prepared to settle in for the day and rest for the next. The warm breeze of the night passed through her blood red hair and whistled by her ears; another testament to how uncomfortably quiet things were at the moment. She'd been reduced to twiddling her fingers to keep her mind off the awkward walk she and Yang were having.

She looks up at the back of the blonde's head. Her lips slightly part in an attempt to break the ice. However, no words come out, as she hesitates and returns her attention to her fingers.

Their footsteps began to echo at this point. She could hear her own breathing now, in place of the wandering crickets that would usually be out about this time. Her eyes began to roam around for anything she could use to distract herself. Nothing of interest. Stores had been closed up. The street they strolled through was void of any life at this point. This had been the first time she'd been out this late. Never had she'd seen the streets this empty and… quiet.

"Sis…"

She freezes on the spot, her train of thought being broken by Yang's voice. She stood, her back still to the red head. For a minute, the two simply stand there, no words being said. Ruby found her hand start to tug on the bottom of her shirt. She waited with baited breath at what was to happen next.

That's when Yang sighs and completely turns to Ruby, causing the younger girl to flinch a little. Her purple eyes stare in Ruby's silver ones, no readable emotion on her face. Then… she starts to grin. Her usually golden bright smile starts to cross her lips and she chuckles softly while putting her hands on her hips. Ruby looks on, more confused than worried now. Still worried, just not as much.

"A sniper scythe?" Yang suddenly asks while still laughing to herself. Ruby cocks her head to the side at that. "Think you went a bit overboard there, sis?"

Ruby suddenly found herself offended by Yang's words for some reason. "L-Look who's talking! 'Oh, shotgun fisty-cuffs, that's totally not flashy or anything!' Seriously, Yang?"

"Well, at least mine's somewhat reasonable. Who the heck thinks up a huge freakin' scythe that can just so happen to snipe the sliced up pieces of their enemy? Geez, you're a lot more hardcore than I thought, kid."

"Says the girl with Shot. Gun. Gauntlets."

"Hey, whatever, chick. My weapon is awesome. These babies will get the job done." She laughs as Ruby makes a bloated, annoyed face. Yang slowly stops chuckling and stares at the ground. "Why do you wanna become a Huntress, Ruby?"

Ruby is taken off guard by Yang's sudden question and change of tone. The fact that she used her actual name sent a chill down her spine. This was one of those rare serious talks would have every blue moon.

Her silver eyes dampen as her right hand suddenly starts to clench and unclench on it's own. Swallowing saliva, she speaks. "I… I just…" For some reason, her words just won't come out. She tries to answer again, but something just won't let her explain. "I mean… well…"

Yang's eyes shut and her hands drop to her side. She slowly starts to advance on her sibling, the young girl not even able to bring herself to look into Yang's eyes. Once the distance is closed, Ruby is entangled in her older sister's arms, her body going stiff.

"I'm not mad you know…" Yang starts, "But… I'm not gonna say I'm okay with this. I'm far from it, actually."

Ruby grits her teeth. "Well why not? You want to be Huntress and no one's saying anything about that."

"That's because I've been training for this since the day I could walk", she says as she continues to pack her clothes into the large duffle bag, "I'm built to be a Huntress; rough and tough as nails." Yang turns to her sister. "You…?"

Ruby's brow rises, as her sister doesn't say anything else. "…What?"

"You…? You're…" Yang says as she sweeps her hands over Ruby's body.

"You just motioned to all of me."

The blonde sighs as she slings around Ruby's shoulders. "Look, kiddo, I'm just saying. You're not the kind of person who should be a huntress. You're sweet, gentle as a dandelion, you cry every time we watch 'Finding Nemo'-"

"Hey!" Ruby interjects, "That movie was touching, dang it... You cried once too…"

"You're missing the point. You don't need to be apart of this, sis. There are things out there that you should never have to see or experience. I'm fighting so I can make sure you never do. You always were a stubborn girl when it came to things you really wanted to do, and I know you really want this, but… I mean…"

Yang takes Ruby by the arms and looks down into her eyes. "Please don't do this, Ruby. If not for you, then… for me. This gig is not for you. Take my word on this one, kid…"

Ruby pouts as she leans her head on her older sister's chest. "Well… aren't you scared to be one, then?"

Yang runs her hand through her thick mane. "Nah, not really. I kind of have to let go of that fear if I really want to do this. Comes with the job, you know?"

"Well, I am." Yang looks down to her red headed sibling. "You said yourself that a lot of people die fighting this war. What if you were one of them?"

"That's not gonna happen." Ruby looks up at her sister in surprise at the sternness of Yang's retort. "Don't think like that, Ruby. I'm not gonna die. I don't want to think about leaving you, mom, or dad alone. If anything, that's going to make me fight even harder. No matter what happens, I promise I won't leave you alone. I'm gonna protect you no matter what." Yang begins to smile brightly. "That's why I want to be a huntress after all."

Ruby's eyes avert to the floor as her hair hangs over her eyes. Her hands come up to her chest and contract. Yang gently rubs her hair and lies her chin atop her head, eyes closed.

"Don't be like me, Ruby. Don't become a huntress."

Ruby wanted to retort. Her mouth was open and ready to refute the idea. She was ready to blow on her sister, tell her that she did have what it took. She was ready to out right tell Yang how wrong she was, that she wasn't afraid of anything the world outside had to throw at her.

But… she couldn't. As she looked back into Yang's pleading, yet calm, and strangely mature eyes, she felt herself unable to go through with it. She found her head start to hang and her hand stopping with its contractions.

Softly, she asks, "…Is it really that bad out there, Yang…?" She gives no answer, only silence. Ruby found her body going limp and her head hanging lower. "…Maybe I'm not cut out to be a Huntress… because… I'm actually scared of what's really in store…" She slowly looks up at Yang. She could feel tears start to well up in her eyes. "Does that make me a coward, Yang…?"

Yang gives a small, sad grin to Ruby and pulls her sister into another hug. "Naw, Ruby. Just makes you human…" Ruby hangs her head and Yang smiles at here, placing her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "Come on. Let's get back home, 'kay?"

The sister's turn and begin to make their way home. The entire walk, Ruby has her eyes on the ground as her talk with Yang replays in her mind. She looks to her open palm and clenches it lightly.

What if she really wasn't cut out to be a huntress after all? She always thought these tiny hands of hers could change things. Maybe should could protect the people that needed a protector, be the hero they all needed.

"How stupid is that…?" she mumbles to herself.

When she looks up, she stops her stride behind Yang, seeing the blonde coming to a halt. She tilts her head curiously and opens her mouth to speak, but stops herself when she sees what Yang was staring at. Their mother was running at them at an alarmingly fast pace. The closer she got, the more she started to notice her mom's physical state.

Her face was twisted with distress. Her blonde hair was unkempt and hung over her face messily. The dress she wore was torn in multiple areas, and Ruby could swear she saw deep red spots all over it. She was even barefooted, as if she were in such a rush that she couldn't even bother to put on shoes.

Yang was the one to voice Ruby's thoughts. "Something's wrong…" Yang starts to speed walk to meet their mother in the middle and Ruby follows behind. "Hey, mom! You okay? What's the-"

"Yang! Ruby!" Song calls out.

"Mom! What's up?"

As they walked, Ruby noticed something strange. It was like a shadow just passed over. For a moment, she assumed it to be a cloud or something. But then a second one passed and she looked into the sky to see what it was. At the same time, Song had caught a glimpse at the sky and speed up even faster than before.

Ruby had frozen at the sight. Raining down on them, a group of large, sharp objects were coming directly at them. Ruby could do nothing but stare, the sight not registering in her mind fully, whether out of fear or just shock.

In the background, she can hear her mother scream her name.

"Ruby!"

That was the last thing she heard before the projectiles rained down and everything went black.

* * *

**Present Time**

* * *

"Your dream..." Ruby turns her head to Yang, who had just spoken. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Ruby averts her gaze back to the sky. "No... Not really."

Yang sighs and turns to Ruby, leaning up on one arm. "Come on, sis, talk to me."

"I said I don't want to, Yang."

"I have been asking about that same dream for years now. Why won't you just let me help?"

Ruby leans up. "There is nothing to help me with, Yang. It's my problem, not yours. Now drop. It."

"Well, at least let me try. I'm your big sister, kiddo. I'm just worried that this dream of yours is affecting you and all. I don't like seeing you like this."

"Like what, Yang? Huh? What is so wrong with me that you're acting like I'm hurt or something?"

"Because you might be. I won't know if you don't tell me."

"Well, nothing's wrong with me. I'm fine. It's just a stupid nightmare. I can deal with it", Ruby says stands up and starts for the door.

"That is bull, Ruby, and you know it! This thing is eating at you, and you need help! Ya' can't deal with it alone! I may not be Song, but I can still try to do something for you!

Ruby abruptly stops at the name Yang just said and she turns back to her, an angered expression on her face as she advances for her sister. "Don't you ever bring up her name...!"

Yang looks back, equally as mad now. "What, my own mother's name? I can't talk about my own mother?!"

Ruby is face to face with Yang now. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Well tough shit, Ruby, because I want to talk about her! I am not gonna keep pretending she didn't exist just because you do! That is our mother, and we are going to talk about her, about dad, and about every damn thing else!"

Ruby shoves Yang, the blonde stumbling back. The red head's teeth are grit. "You are walking on mighty thin ice here, Yang... Leave her out of this..."

Yang stands up, unflinching as the two sisters stare each other in the eye. "...She was here, Ruby... She was alive... Believe it not..."

Ruby stares Yang down for a moment longer, her body trembling. Suddenly, she turns and runs for the door, opens it, then slams it shut, leaving Yang alone. The older girl collapses to the floor and balls her fist.

"She was here, sis..." she says to herself.

* * *

**Past Time**

* * *

A loud ringing resonated in her ears. Her vision was massively impaired and everything looked blurry and unrecognizable. Her body hurt all over and she could definitely feel blood coursing down her head and neck. It took all of her willpower to keep from blacking out right then and there, but she knew all too well that this would be the worst time to take a nap.

She forces herself to roll over on her stomach, a horrible pain going through her body as she did that. Her vision finally started to right itself and the ringing in her ear began to subside.

"Damn it…! Damn it…!"

"Y…Yang…?"

She willed herself to turn around upon hearing her sister's panicked voice. Something was wrong. It was very rare Yang ever sounded this distressed. It almost sounded like she was about to cry. Finally, she was able to completely turn her body around, where she saw her older sister.

"Come on! Come on, damn it! Move!" the blonde said as she pulled on a long claw like thing. In fact, it looked like one of the things that fell from the sky on top of them. It was almost like a large black feather of sorts.

Yang had her arms around it and looked to be trying her hardest to pull it. Although, Ruby couldn't quite see what she was attempting to pull the object from. So, she slowly crawled across the ground to get a better look…

And immediately wished she hadn't…

Her silver eyes widened and her heart completely stopped at the sickening amount of blood covering the building wall and the ground. Her body went numb at the realization that the blood came from multiple sources. Her stomach churned at what the sources were.

"Why… won't it move?! Move, you… piece of shit!" Yang cursed as she desperately jerked at the bloodied thing imbued in the chest of their mother. It was almost as if Yang didn't realize her own abdomen was impaled by a smaller one.

Her mother's eyes were dim, and she looked as if it took every part of her being to draw breath. Ruby's hands covered her mouth as she did her best to keep from vomiting. She could feel tears dance at the rim of her eyes. She trembled uncontrollable, but that was all she could do. For some reason, she couldn't will herself to move forward, try you help her mother and sister. The reality of the situation had truly hit her now and there was nothing she could do.

"Ruby! Ruby! Listen to me! Ruby!"

She was able to snap out of her stupor at the sound of her sister's voice. Her eyes snapped to Yang's and she saw the blonde looking at her with desperation- no, fear. Genuine fear. That only made the red haired girl even more terrified.

"Ruby, help me! I can't… I can't move this thing by myself!"

Yang's words registered in Ruby's mind and, after a moment of collecting herself, she ran to her sister's side. She couldn't help but look down at the blonde's impaled abdomen.

"Yang… You're…"

"That's not important right now!" Yang said, "We have to worry about mom, first. Grab this thing and we'll pull on my mark." Ruby does what she us told and she wraps her arms around the talon, getting the best grip she can. "Okay, you ready?" Ruby nods nervously. Yang looks at their mother. "All right, hold on, mom. This is gonna hurt a little. On 3! 1… 2… 3!"

The two girls pull with all their might. Ruby has her teeth grit and her eyes closed as she tugged as hard as she could. She could feel the talon start to slowly move. That was when her mother began to groan in pain. The more they pulled, the louder her pained whimpers echoed. Ruby felt horrible about this, but they couldn't stop now.

However, the talon would no longer move. It suddenly came to a standstill and no progress was being made.

"Come on!" she could hear Yang say through clenched teeth. But the effort would prove futile as the two lost their grip and fell to the ground, the talon barely having moved. "Again! We have to try a- Agh!" Yang doubles over and grabs at her wound. Ruby looks on worried.

"Yang, you can't", Ruby tries to reason with her sister.

"I…I'm fine!" Yang responds stubbornly, "We need to… try again!"

She grabs at the talon and pulls.

"Stop…! Stop…!" their mother, with a pained breath, intervenes. Yang continues to pull as best she can. "YANG, STOP!"

Once she screams at her, Yang stops dead and looks down at her mother, desperate to keep trying. For a moment, the three sit in silence, Song trying to regain her breath as if she didn't have a giant talon sticking out of her chest.

"Come here you two…" Song says through deep breaths, "Let momma… talk to ya'… for a second…" Yang and Ruby comply and slowly approach their mother and each sit on one side of her. Yang takes one of her hands and squeezes. "Now… let's be honest here… this thing ain't comin' out… too deep… And I'd just bleed out anyway… And even then I'd just slow you two down… Looks like… this is my last stop…"

"Shut up!" Yang interjects, "Stop being stupid! You'll be fine, we just have to-"

"Yang Xiao Long, I know you're not stupid, so stop acting like it… Does it look like I can make it outside the city like this…?"

"But we're so close! Look, we can even see the exit right there! You can't give up yet, that's not like you! You always told me to keep pushing on no matter what kind of Hell I find myself in! You always told me that you're some big strong huntress who doesn't let anything stop you from getting what you want!"

Song smiles lightly at Yang's outburst. "Yeah… That's exactly what I said… So... I need you to... just give me this... I just… want you two… to be okay… You may have a… few ware and tears here and there… but you two are so close… And I have no doubt you'll be fine without me… or your dad…" Song coughs up blood on the talon inside her. "Damn this sucks… Not the best goodbye I would have… come up with…"

Ruby's head hangs low, her hair shadowing her eyes. "Don't say goodbye… Please…"

Yang rubs a hand through her dirtied blonde hair and squeezes her eyes shut. "Don't do this, mom… You can't leave us like this… I can't do this without you… I'm not strong like you…"

Song smiles warmly. "No… You're not… You're stronger… Both of you…" The sisters slowly look up at their dying mother. "I am 120% positive… that you two are… infinitely stronger than I am… Let me tell you a secret… Wanna know why I… think I'm so strong…? 'Cause… If I didn't… you two wouldn't think I was that cool… My little girls would… think their mommy was just a lame big-mouthed wannabe… I just wanted to be… the strong mother… you two deserved…"

The tears had fully begun to stream from Ruby's eyes, and Yang looked at Song in sadness.

"That's not true…" Song turns to Ruby, who spoke up, "We wouldn't care… You'd still be the best mom in the whole world…"

Song's eyes widen slightly. Then, her own eyes begin to fill with tears. "God damn it, kid… I'm not supposed to… be the one crying here…"

"Swear…" Ruby hiccups between sobs.

Song laughs. "My bad…" Song looks between her daughters and can't help but smile. "All right… it's about that time… You two had… better get going… No tellin' when that thing's gonna come back for seconds…"

Ruby shakes her head. "Please, Song… Please don't do this…"

"I'm sorry, baby girl… but momma's not going anywhere… I need you to be strong for me, okay…? That goes for both of you… I need you two to… stick together… Protect each other… fight together… love each other… If you girls stick together… there is nothing this world can throw at you… that you two can't handle… Ya' understand me…?"

Yang nods, but Ruby can only cry.

"Now… come give your momma a hug…" Yang and Ruby move in and wrap their arms around Song in a tight embrace. She wills her arms to hug back and she smiles. "I love you two… so much…" Tears run down her face.

"I love you, too…" Yang says low.

Ruby can only cry.

Song releases them and she looks at Yang. "Now take your sister… and run…"

Yang has a glare in her eye. She goes around the feather and grabs Ruby by the waist, lifting her under her arm. Without looking at her mother she takes Ruby and does exactly what she is told: she runs.

**She ran as fast as her body would let her. The blonde haired girl did not turn back, did not hesitate as she escaped the Hell that was once their home. Her younger sister, her last remaining family, was held tightly within her arms, unmoving, quite.**

"Wait… Yang…"

**The young girl stirred from her stupor as she witnessed her home covered in flames inch further and further away from her sight. The intense anxiety of the situation began to dawn on her and her dull silver eyes widened and sparked with fear.**

"What about mom and dad…? Yang, why are we leaving them…?"

**As her red haired sister started to cry out to her, Yang's heart grew heavier with each passing second. Her teeth began to grit and her fist started to clench, but she would no turn back, she would not heed Ruby's pleas.**

"Mom and dad aren't with us, Yang! We have to go back! We have to save them!"

**Every fiber of her being screamed at her to go back. She desperately wanted to return to that god forsaken city and fight. She wanted to have some kind of hope that there was still a chance to change all of this. She wanted this all to be a horrible nightmare that she'd be waking up from any moment. **

"Yang, please! Yang! YANG!"

**But she knew it wasn't... And all Yang can do is scream, tears flowing from her eyes…**

**Such is the tale of the two tragic sisters…**

* * *

**Present Time**

* * *

The door opens slowly. Yang slowly and quietly enters the room. The first place she looks to is the bed of her younger sister to find that it was empty. Sighing, she decides to enter, close the door, and look around the rest of the room.

It was completely torn apart, as if it had been hit by a hurricane... or an angry red headed girl. The dresser had been knocked over, the contents inside it strewn all over the room along with various other items. The computer desk chair found itself in two pieces on top of Yang's bed, looking to have been cut by a blade.

The blonde sighs, shaking her head. She looks back to her sister's bed and walks over the debris and carnage left in her wake. Reaching the bunk, she kneels down and looks to the underside, finding who she had been looking for curled up with her back to her.

Yang lies down on her back, looking up to the ceiling, arms behind her head. "This is our chance, Ruby... We can try again... We can restart..."

She doesn't answer.

"We've been through so much together, you and I. We've seen so much. I hate that you had to go through all of this. But... I just need you to know... that we're in this together, okay? I'm right here. I'm always right beside you... You understand me?" The young girl doesn't answer. Instead, her hand reaches out behind her. Yang takes the hint and grabs it, squeezing tightly, rubbing her knuckles.

"We're gonna be okay, sis... Two sisters against the world... Just me and you... We're gonna be okay."

**That night, with her sister's hand in her own, the little red girl dozed off into her slumber.**

**The two sisters slept… together… yet alone in the horrible world they were cursed to be born in. They prepare themselves for the days ahead, one with a hope that the future in store with be better for them. The other, however, knew better than to believe such things. She knew how cruel fate could be. She had seen the black eyes of despair too many times before to think they would be safe.**

**However, she desperately wished it wasn't so. She hoped that, maybe... life would prove her wrong...**

**Little did the little red girl know... this was only the beginning...**

* * *

**Grimm Tales**


	2. 2: A Tale of Trust

"Yang..."

She mumbles but doesn't wake up.

"Yang..."

More mumbling, but she stays asleep.

"Yang."

She mumbles again, but wakes up this time. Groggily, she flips over and turns to her younger sister. Ruby stands over Yang's bed, looking down at the blonde. Yang yawns loudly and scratches her belly button. She moves her head in a _"what's up?"_ manner.

"Look", is all Ruby says before turning and walking over to the other side of the room. Yang follows her sister's path with a raised brow. After walking a good distance away, Ruby turns back to her sister, points to Yang's eyes, then to her own. Yang mimics the movement, giggling at her sister's childish movement.

Suddenly, Ruby is gone.

…No, she _literally_ disappears. In the blink of an eye, Ruby is just gone, as if she were never there in the first place. The only things left behind are red rose petals that gently fall to the floor. It takes a moment for Yang to register what just happened, but when she does, her jaw slowly drops. The next moment, Ruby reappears a few feet from the spot she vanished from, still looking at Yang.

The blonde stares at Ruby with her jaw hanging open, having no idea what to say about what she just saw.

"I can teleport", Ruby says for her.

* * *

**. . . . .**

* * *

"This is stupid."

"It's not stupid, it's creative."

"No, it's pretty stupid."

"Ruby, you'll be fine, this is completely safe", Yang says as her little sister stands on the edge of a 3 story building looking down at the busy city street below.

"I am going to die", Ruby says, her shoulders sagging. She turns back to Yang, a very nervous look on her face. "Yang, I forget, why am I on the edge of a 3 story building again?"

The blonde crosses her arms over her chest. "Sudden-Death-Activation."

"Oh, that sounds nice."

"It's something I made up a little while ago. Or, at least, earlier this morning", she mumbles that last part.

"You know I heard that, right?"

"No you didn't."

"Yang, I totally-"

"So you may be wondering, _'my dearest, fairest, sexiest sister, what on earth is this Sudden-Death-Activation you speak of?'_"

"Crossed my mind a few times, yes."

"Well, I'm glad you asked. See, for a few weeks now, 3, to be exact, we've been practicing and practicing trying to get that awesome power of yours under control, because, let's be honest, it's freakin' sweet."

"It is pretty cool, yes."

"And in those weeks, how much progress have we made?"

Ruby contemplates for a second and starts counting silently on her fingers. "Um, let's see, 1, 2, 3, 4... None. No progress."

"Exactly!" Yang points at Ruby. "In all that time, no matter how hard we try, nothing seems to work! Why can't you do it right? Why is this so hard? And who keeps putting that wall in front of?"

"The city architects, probably."

"So, as I rustled and bustled in my bed, wondering what I could possibly do to get things moving along, it suddenly hit me?"

"The wall?"

"An idea! A brilliant one! We've been going about it all wrong. It was so simple! We were taking things too slow, going about the easy route, taking the safe path! We had to break from those secure boundaries, start taking things to the next level! We had to break new ground!" She puts her hand on Ruby's shoulders, the red head looking at her sister suspiciously.

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

Yang looks at Ruby. "By being this high, of course."

"What?"

Push.

Ruby goes tipping over the edge, her eyes still on Yang the whole time.

"What." she squeaks.

Yang points down. "Ground's coming."

Ruby looks down. The ground is indeed coming. She promptly does the normal thing anyone would do in this situation.

"WAAAAAHHHH!"

She freaks the hell out.

She begins to rapidly fall to the ground, her mind scrambling at a million miles per hour. Her arms and legs flail as her feet leave the rooftop. Her silver eyes widen unbelievably wide and her hair blows wildly in the wind.

The crowd below looks up in panic at seeing the young girl falling down at them. Some of the pedestrians even open their arms in an attempt to catch her. The young girl's eyes close tightly as she prepares to smack right into the ground.

However, something rather... different happens.

Time slows down all around her. A red rose petal drifts in front of her view, gently. Following it, dozens of more float up and begin to fill her vision with red. A strange tugging sensation pulls at her stomach and she feels lighter than ever before. Warmth encompasses her entire body. Everything fades to black.

To the confusion of the citizens on the street, rather than a young girl, they are covered in a drizzle of red roses.

"Sis, you can open your eyes now."

They slowly start to crack open. She was still afraid to fully open them, fearing that she might see the white pearly gates in front of her.

"Seriously, you're okay. Look."

She finally lets her eyes open fully, daylight flooding her vision, making everything blurry and unfocused. As her sight begins to clear up, the first things to greet her are the purple eyes and smirking face of her older sister.

"Well, look who's thinking with portals."

Punch!

Ruby's fist is lodged into Yang's cheek, sending the blonde to the floor. Ruby is quickly on top of the woman, her hands tugging on Yang's ears.

"Ow. Ow! OW!"

"What in Sam Hill were you thinking, you psycho?!"

"Hold on-"

"What kind of sister pushes their sibling off of a flubbing roof like that?!"

"If you would just listen for a sec-"

"Why on earth would you do something like that?! That is the exact opposite of protecting a loving family member from the dangers of the world?! Give me a reason why I shouldn't punch you again?"

"You're tearing my ears off!"

"Screw your ears!"

"Okay, enough of this!"

With that, Yang's hair suddenly begins to glow and catch on fire, lightly burning Ruby.

"Ow!" Ruby falls back from the pain of the embers on her hands and arms, freeing Yang from her inescapable ear torture. "Dang it, Yang, you know I hate it when you do that!"

"Well, ripping my ears off isn't anymore comfortable", Yang says as she starts to stand up. "Why are you so angry?"

"You pushed me off of a ROOF!"

"That wasn't even a big deal! You know the most you would've gotten was a bloody nose. A fall like that is nothing to you."

"That still doesn't mean you can just shove me off a 3 story building! Who does that?!"

"Okay, okay, you're right, I'm sorry. That was mean. But, sis, you are forgetting one very important aspect about this conversation we're having?"

"What, Yang? What am I forgetting?"

Yang crosses her arms and smiles. "We're _having _it."

Ruby tilts her head in confusion. However, realization starts to sink in and she straightens up. She looks down at the ground to see that she was standing on it. Her eyes roam around and she sees the familiar sight of the rooftop her sister had pushed her off of. There wasn't a scratch on her body. It was almost as if nothing even happened.

Like she hadn't even moved.

She slowly looks back at her grinning blonde sister, eyes wide. "Sudden-Death-Activation..."

Yang puts her hands on her hips. "Guess who just broke new ground?"

**From that point, Yang and Ruby trained hard, all in attempt to get her incredibly awesome… uh-hum, I mean, _very interesting_ power mastered and controlled. Hours, days, weeks, months pass, test after test was initiated...**

**With... Varying degrees.**

**Sometimes, things would go fairly well. They would try simple things like just getting Ruby to actually do the… teleport… thing… whatever it was.**

"All right, kiddo, ya' just gotta focus and do it", Yang says.

"Okay, okay..." Ruby's responds, focusing herself.

_Whoosh!_

She vanishes. Yang looks around for where Ruby might have gone. Little does she know, the young girl is-

"Boo!"

"Jesus!"

-right behind her. Ruby laughs at Yang's loud, shrilly, uncharacteristic scream while the blond looks about ready to punch the kid out... only to then join in with the laughter.

**But, most of the time... Things went… badly.**

**She might teleport off the ground...**

"Oh man- Ugh!"

**Upside down...**

"You gotta be kidding me- OUCH!"

**On top of Yang...**

"Look out!"

"You freakin' retar- AH!"

**But, most of the time...**

"Not again- Oof!"

**It's wall...**

"Augh!"

**Wall...**

"Crap!"

**Wall.**

"DANG IT!"

**She hated walls.**

**For a while, the little red girl plateaued. She wasn't making much progress and it bugged her big time. You could even say she (dear lord, I can't believe I'm about to say this…) hit a brick wall.**

"Kid, you've gotta stop running into the wall", Yang says to Ruby, who sat on the ground rubbing her head.

She starts to stand up. "Don't you think I know that?"

"Hey, whoa there, sis. Just trying to-"

"Well, thanks, Yang! Really! Big help you are!"

"Wait, sis!"

But she was already walking away, frustrated and angry.

**Ruby wasn't always a good student... She could go from _"eager red head klutz who didn't know how to quit"_, to... well, that. She was overblowing things a little. Okay, a lot a little, but it was frustrating. She felt as if she was going nowhere.**

**But that was the thing. When she had days like that, Ruby would go sulk in her room and stay mad at the world for a little while. Yang would walk in, try to comfort her, encourage her to keep trying; anything she could do to keep Ruby's spirits up.**

She sits next to Ruby, who lay in her bed, her back turned to Yang. The blonde runs a hand through Ruby's growing red hair.

"I'm sorry, Yang…" the young girl says. "I didn't mean what I said… I just… Sometimes I just can't control my emotions… I dint mean to…"

"Shhh…" Yang hushes her baby sister. "You're okay. We can do this. You're doing a great job, okay? We just need a little more practice, that's all." Yang leans down to Ruby's ear. "I know you can do this, kiddo. You can do anything."

She pecks Ruby's cheek. Rubbing her head once more, Yang stands and walks to the bathroom. After she leaves, Ruby can't help but rub the spot she was kissed in and smile softly.

**And every time... It worked.**

She appears in a kneeled position, her eyes squeezed shut. When she realizes she hadn't smacked into a wall, she slowly opens her eyes and looks around, amazed. When she turns to a watching Yang, she was looking at Ruby with her jaw hanging.

"Sis…" She starts to smile. Soon enough, she was out right laughing and running at Ruby, who yelped at Yang's sudden rush. When Yang reaches her, she takes Ruby up in her arms and swings her around, laughing loudly. "You did it! You did it! I knew you could do it, Ruby! Hahahah!"

As she was being swung, a smile creeps on to Ruby's face, the realization of her accomplishment seeping into her mind.

**The days went by, and Ruby was enjoying her newfound skills.**

Ruby appeared at the desk by the window and grabs a pencil before vanishing and appearing by a wall with a calendar. Then she disappears and reappears on her bed, a book in hand. She teleports and is suddenly hanging from the light in the middle of the room. She does it again and is now brushing her teeth with a pickle for some odd reason.

The whole time, Yang watched, a brow raised. "Okay, now you're just showing off."

Ruby turns to Yang with a smile before teleporting on Yang's lap, rubbing her face on the laughing blonde's.

**Skills she would learn to master…**

Ruby appears in a gust of roses, stumbling from the landing a little.

When she finds her balance, she looks ahead at the row of rooftops stretching before her, egging her on. From behind, a ways away, she can hear the voice of her older sister yelling at her.

She turns around to see the blonde pumping her fist in the air, a huge smile on her face. "Go, sis! You can do it!"

Ruby looks forward, a determined glare in her eyes. "Okay..." She bends down, placing her hands on the ground. "Come on Ruby..." she says to herself.

Yang's hands fall to her side as she looks on, anticipation written all over her face. "Do it, kiddo..." she urges on quietly.

Ruby's backside rises into the air, one leg is in front, the other stretched back. Her muscles tense up, sweat rolling down her skin. Her hair hangs low, her eyes are staring at the roof top runway.

"Let's go..." she says.

And she's off! She disappears from sight, a gust of roses taking the place where she was once before. She reappears a longer distance away from where she originally was, running along the rooftop. When she meets another intersection between roofs, she teleports from one to another, stumbling slightly each time.

Yang watches with bated breath, her eyes wide, hands clasped together, a smile growing larger and larger as she watches. "Holy crap, she's doing it...!"

Ruby runs and teleports across rooftops, the stumbling lessening with each one. Before she knows it, she's full on sprinting and teleporting as if it were second nature, transitioning between the two easily. A smile starts to stretch across her lips as she breathes rapidly in her sprint.

"Haha...! Hahaha!"

She starts to genuinely laugh.

**She was having fun! She was actually having _fun_! She'd never felt anything like that before! She's never had so much power! She actually forgot what that kind of happiness felt like! It was such a rush!**

**She felt… free!**

**Yeah! She was free!**

As Ruby runs, her eyes catch sight of something a bit more... tougher looking.

The roof top gaps hadn't been too big of a deal up to this point. She could have easily jumped over them rather than teleport. But this one was a lot bigger, an entire city block between the two rooftops coming up. She considered stopping for a moment, maybe not doing something incredibly stupid.

Then Yang's stupid voice popped up in her mind, and said, "Oh you have _got_ to do this!"

And Ruby was stupid enough to listen. So, she put all her power in a burst of speed, and aimed for an air conditioning unit that would lead up to the roof top entrance. That would be her launch pad... and she was gonna put it to good use.

Yang sees what she's about to do and puts her hands on top of her head, eyes wide. "Oh man, she's crazy!" she laughs.

So, Ruby vanishes, and reappears on top of the air conditioning unit, then on top of the entrance, and then...!

"Go Ruby!"

She jumps high into the air, doing a flip over the city ground below, over the people walking it, over the gap she'd run into! The sun is directly above her, shadowing her entire form as she flips.

She took a leap of faith as the young girl...

* * *

**Two Years Later**

* * *

…And landed as a young woman!

Her torn red cloak flowed behind her, her long, blood red hair blowing in the wind as she soars through it. A large, toothy, cheesy grin is plastered on her face as she soars through the air.

Ruby teleports and lands on a building top across the intersection, continuing her run, and then going into a teleport frenzy up a larger building, seamlessly. Once more and she flings herself high above the building before falling back to its top and landing softly.

She finally stops her run and simply takes in the air at the elevation she's found herself at. She decides to lower herself and sit down. Ruby takes in the breathtaking sight of the city she now towers over. The city she now calls home. The young girl smiles a little, sighing, and then chuckling.

"Yeah... I can live with this..."

* * *

**2**

**A Tale of Trust**

* * *

"Fauna! What are Fauna? What are these _'unholy offspring of human and animal'_ everyone seems to love discussing? What are these _'killers in shadows'_ that so many love to call them? Failed science experiments? Creatures from another world? The true natural inhabitants of Remnant?"

The pen scribbled across the paper, keeping up with the words that are spoken.

"Many people have many different theories on them. They also have many names. _'Liars', 'degenerates', 'killers', 'psychos', 'heartless', 'insane criminals'_; it all depends on who you ask. But what do all of these names have in common?"

The page flips. The pen is put down and replaced with a red ink one as the various names said are written down and underlined.

"Such negativity surrounds the terms to describe these mysterious creatures. They live along side us, yet still feel they must hide in the shadows. You have to wonder where such animosity toward them spawned from, why such cruelty is necessary. Have any Fauna in this room experienced any pain such as that?"

The pen comes to a stop as the white haired girl averts her eyes to the other side of the classroom. A brown haired girl slowly raises her hand. She does her best to keep her eyes on the floor as her body visibly trembles. The large bunny ears atop her head droop down.

The large bellied professor notices this and walks over to the girl, his hands behind his back. When he reaches her, he speaks.

"Have you've experienced the torments of being _'different'_, young lady?"

Her hand lowers to her lap and she slowly nods. The professor's hand strokes his gray mustache. He takes a deep breath and-

"SUCH ATROCITY!"

...he does that. The brown haired Faunus girl looks at him wide eyed and confused, along with the rest of the class.

"My dear young Faunus child, how you've suffered so! Such horrid acts of prejudice should never be allowed in this vast world we live in!"

He takes the young girl's hands in his own. She smiles nervously, trying to hold back a yelp. "If only I could ease your suffering! Alas, we live in a world where such cruelty is so commonplace that a single man, such as myself, can make no large change alone! How the mean spirited nature of some angers me to the core!"

He suddenly slams his hand on the wall, rattling the entire classroom. A few students even fall out of their seats. Everyone stares at the pot-bellied professor, waiting for him to do something. The white haired girl looks around as if expecting someone to speak. When no one does, she opens her mouth.

"U...Um-"

"Not to worry, young ones!" he interrupts. "My apologies for that ungrateful display of anger. I simply let my emotions get the best of me for a second there! Hahaha!"

"Man, this old guy's a little weird."

The white haired girl overhears a few whispers from around her.

"The guy's as weird as my mom said he'd be."

"Must be one of those _'furry lovers'_ everyone's always talking about."

"Well, ya' can't get any weirder than that."

She rolls her eyes at her fellow students, looking back down at her notes-

"Huh?"

When she looks down, she sees what seemed to be a rose petal lying on top of her notepad. Her brow rising, she goes to pick up the petal.

"Whoa! What the heck?!"

Her head shoots up at the sound of some of the other students freaking out. She looks around, alert, expecting to see danger of some sort. However, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. But, judging by everyone's reactions, something was amiss.

"She just appeared out of nowhere!"

"I didn't even notice her for a second!"

"Who is that?"

That's when Weiss notices everyone's eyes directed to the front of the classroom. She turns that way and is surprised at what she sees.

"Wait, where did she...?" The white haired girl whispers, astonished.

In the middle of the classroom, a red-cloaked figure appeared from thin air as a group of red roses, the same as the one on the white haired girl's notepad, float down around her. For a moment, she stays in her kneeled position before slowly rising.

Her eyes open to look directly into the professor's who silently watches.

"Hohoho!" And then he starts to laugh. "You always have to add such a dramatic flare to your entrances for me, don't you, miss Rose?"

She smiles brightly at Professor Port. The red hooded girl lifts a hand from her long cloak and waves to the Professor. He walks forward and places a meaty hand on her much smaller shoulder.

"Well if it isn't my favorite little delivery girl! Your doing well I would hope?" She nods her head, a small smile on her face. He strokes his mustache, chuckling. "That's very good to hear, my dear! Do you have a package for me today?"

The young girl nods again and lifts a green box from under her hood, holding it up to Professor Port.

"Thank you, my dear! Always a pleasure to see your adorable face in my humble presence. Well, I suppose you have other errands to run for old Ozpin. You see to it those tasks of yours get done. Now, run along, little one."

Ruby takes a step back and bows down to the portly professor. In the blink of an eye, she vanishes from sight, leaving a bouquet of roses to float down softly.

When she reappears, it is next to the white haired student, who is just able catch a glimpse of the little red girl. Time seemed to slow down as she caught sight of the teleporting hooded teen, who hadn't paid any mind to the onlooker's presence. And then, just like, time speed back up and she was gone like the wind, leaving the class bewildered.

The white haired girl continued to stare at the spot Ruby was just in for a split second.

"Uh, Mr. Port? Who was... that?" a student asks.

The teacher strokes his mustache. "Oh, don't mind her. You'll see her wandering around the campus from time to time, running errands for the head master. If you happen to see her whilst walking around, just leave the child to her own devices. Now, enough of that. Let us get back to today's lesson, children!"

As the professor continues to talk, the white haired girl's eyes drop to the pile of bright red roses. Each of the pedals slowly fade away from existence, no trace of their presence left behind.

"How... did she do that?"

* * *

**. . . . .**

* * *

"Weiss, I've seen a lot of things in my time on this world. Believe me I have. But a girl who can simply vanish into thin air is a bit far fetched. And that is coming from me."

She groans exaggeratedly. "I _know _what I saw! Pyrrha, she appeared out of nowhere, right in the middle of my class."

The white haired girl, Weiss, walked alongside her much larger friend, Pyrrha, after a long day of classes. The two girls had switched out of their school uniforms into something a bit more comfortable. Other groups of students littered the courtyard, either going to their next classes, or simply lounging about.

Weiss and Pyrrha walked under one of the archway columns as they discussed Weiss' little encounter.

"How can you not believe me?" Weiss complained.

"I never said I didn't believe you, Weiss", Pyrrha said lifting her hands in defense. "I... simply have never heard of someone vanishing and reappearing so... suddenly. I'm not even sure that's possible."

"Then you don't believe me!"

"Maybe, but I never said it."

Weiss palms her face, shaking her head. Pyrrah giggled. "We live in a world overrun by shadow creatures, and people with cat ears, and you don't think _this_ is possible?"

"Do you even believe this to be possible?"

"I _saw_ it!"

"But do you really think that such an ability even exists? Don't you think there's a more reasonable explanation for such a thing? Excessive speed is actually quite common for people to have. Perhaps that would explain it?"

Weiss pauses in her walk and crosses her arms in thought. "I... suppose that... would explain a lot."

"Well, there you go. This girl you saw could have just been moving at a faster rate than most people can keep up with. But someone basically exiting reality and reappearing in it in a different spot than when they started? That's a bit much to believe. Nothing like that has ever been done before."

Weiss sighs. "Maybe..."

Pyrrha smiles. "Trust me, Weiss. I seriously doubt it is what you think it is."

So, of course, at that moment, at the other side of the courtyard, Ruby appears in a gust of red roses and starts to leisurely stroll under the archway. Weiss and Pyrrha can do nothing but stare for a moment, before looking at each other with perplexed looks.

Pyrrha smiles awkwardly as Weiss scowls. "Well, what do I know, right?" Pyrrha says.

Weiss rolls her eyes and focuses her attention on Ruby. "Come on", she tells Pyrrha before walking toward the red haired girl.

Pyrrha scrambles after the white head. "W-Wait! Weiss! Didn't you tell me that Professor Port specifically instructed _not_ to bother her? What are you planning on doing?"

"Would you relax? I'm not going to do anything. I just want to know how she does... whatever it is she does. I'm intrigued."

"Okay, yes, I'll admit, I myself would like to know how her ability is possible, but we really should listen to the professor. We don't know how she'll- oh, you're not even listening! Weiss!"

Weiss trails Ruby, leaving a bit of distance between the two, not wanting to startle her.

"Hey, kid!" she says, trying to get Ruby's attention. However, the hooded girl gives no sign of having heard Weiss' shout. The white head sighs and speeds up a little. "I just want to asks you some questions! Would you hold on a minute! Kid!"

Still no answer.

This time, Weiss' teeth grit and she growls. Her fists ball and she increases her pace to catch up to Ruby. "Don't ignore me!" Her hand reaches out and snags the red hood Ruby wore. "I just want to ta-"

As Weiss forces Ruby to turn her way, her own hand is grabbed by Pyrrha, who yanks her to a stop before taking Weiss by the shoulders.

"Pyrrha, ow!" Weiss complains.

"Weiss, stop it", Pyrrha says. "We aren't supposed to bother her. I'm fairly certain she isn't too happy about you annoying her like this."

"What are you talking about? Would you quit your worrying? She probably doesn't even mind... us... at..."

Ruby stares at the two schoolgirls, violently shaking and profusely sweating. Her silver eyes have widened to the size of dinner plates. It looks like the poor kid was about to out right cry.

"U...Um..." Weiss stuttered as Pyrrha looks on worriedly. "...Hey... You okay... kid...?" Weiss asks.

For a good 10 seconds, the three ladies have a rather awkward staring contest, one that Weiss and Pyrrha were, apparently, winning. Weiss and Pyrrha look at each other from the corner of their eyes before looking back at the still trembling Ruby.

"K…Kid…? Weiss asks again.

_Vanish!_

Without even giving an answer, Ruby vanishes from sight, leaving red roses her behind in her wake. It takes a moment for Weiss and Pyrrha to process what just happened. Students from all around look at the scene, mumbling to themselves about the weirdness of it all.

"I... suppose she's not very... social... " Pyrrha says awkwardly.

* * *

**. . . . .**

* * *

**The fact is, the little red girl had long since distanced herself from the two girls who decided to converse with her of all people. There wasn't a remote chance that they'd be able to catch her now, not with her nifty ability. However, even with all of those factors known, she continues to run as fast as she could. She had no destination in mind, no real reason to keep running. The one and only thing driving her to flee was simple.**

**Fear. **

**She was genuinely afraid of the small encounter she had with two curious young students who truly meant her no harm. She was honest to god afraid of the insignificant physical content between her shoulder and a hand.**

**She was deathly fearful… of everyone. Everyone she had no connections to, had no idea of whom they may be, the possibilities of what they may or may not do to her. She was just… scared of everyone.**

**And because of that… she ran.**

"Ugh!"

"Gah!"

Her speedy getaway is harshly interrupted when Ruby finds herself tumbling to the ground, hitting it hard with her back. The pain running through her body was enough to bring her mind out of its frantic scramble so she could regain some composure over her emotions.

Quickly sitting up, ignoring her slight pain, she looks around at the civilians who've stopped what they were doing to check on the scene. She finds herself shrinking under the many gazes, sweating uncontrollably, her body shaking. Her mind was going back to its untamed state, her heart beating faster by the second.

"Ow…"

That's when she completely freezes up. Upon hearing the voice directly in front of her, she realizes she wasn't the only one in the spotlight. She slowly turns her head and is met with two yellow eyes staring back directly into hers.

"Hello to you, too", the black haired woman sitting before Ruby greets, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "In a bit of a rush, are we?"

Ruby looks around the ground and notices the various scraps of paper and books lying around her and the woman.

She begins to panic even more and goes to speak. "Ah…" However, her voice is caught in her throat and she can't mutter a single word. She tries again, but the same thing happens.

The woman's brow rises. "Are… you okay?"

Ruby's mouth hangs open as she tries to force words out. The longer she hesitates, the faster her heart beats. Her vision starts to impair and the world around her twists. The people around her distort and grow larger in size, succeeding in making her feel even more insignificant.

"Kid, what's wrong with you?"

"Oh god, is she having a heart attack?"

"Someone call a doctor, I think she needs medical attention!"

They were all talking, panicking. But she could barely focus on what they were saying. Her fists continuously convulse. Her body shakes uncontrollably, and her mouth goes dry. Her panic was growing out of hand. She had to run. She needed to escape.

She _needed_ to escape!

"Kid!" Her arm is grabbed. She freezes and looks up. Those same yellow eyes stare at her, filled with concern. She doesn't even hesitate. Her instinct acts for her.

_Vanish!_

The crowd of people and the black haired woman are left stunned by the sudden vanishing of a certain little red girl. The only things left behind are a group of red rose petals that float to the ground gently. One lands on her lap. She takes it up in hand and eyes it with confusion.

She looks around for a trace of the red headed girl, unable to decipher what had just happened.

**There are things that tormented her mind, things that happened in her past to make her that way, and things that scarred her forever more. Things that made her fear all unknown to her.**

**This was no simple disorder that she would be able to grow out of with time. This was the source of a great deal of her fears.**

An orange bottle is pulled from her jacket with urgency. Her hands shook so much that she dropped it to the ground of the alleyway she hid in. She franticly retrieves it and forces the cap off. A handful of blue pills fall out of the bottle, but only two stay in her shaking hand. She throws the pills into her mouth and swallows.

As the two pills fall down her throat, she breaths erratically, all rhythm lost. Soon enough, her mind begins to calm, her heartbeat slows, and her vision slowly returns to normal. For a moment, she sits there behind an alleyway dumpster, alone with her thoughts and the pills on the ground.

She brings her knees up to her chest and her hands cover her face.

Small hiccups echo through the lone alleyway as tears stream down her face.

**This was what she had been reduced to. Despite two years of rest between her heart and that fateful day, she did not emerge unscathed. In fact, it's not unlikely that she came out of that nightmare worse than she ever had been.**

**Such is the tale of the little red girl…**

* * *

**. . . . .**

* * *

"You've had quite the eventful day, it would seem."

Her eyes are locked to the floor as she sits in her seat. Ruby's red hair hangs over her eyes, shadowing them. Loud ticking rings out from the four clocks around the office in the clock tower. She ignores them relatively easily.

"I'm sorry things did not go so well today. Are you okay?"

She nods her head slowly.

"You don't have to lie to me, Ruby. It's obvious that you're doing quite the opposite."

She closes her eyes for a moment as she takes slow breathes. "…What's wrong me, Mr. Ozpin…?"

The silver haired man leans forward, resting his chin in his folded hands. "Nothing is wrong with you, dear."

"Then why am I like this?"

"Because many unfortunate circumstances have had ill effects on your well being. That does not mean something is _wrong_ with you. It simply means that it will take time for you to fully recuperate. It will also take much effort from you and I both."

She sighs. "I seriously doubt I can be fixed, sir."

"Of course not, since you aren't broken in the first place."

"Now you're just lying…"

There is a moment of silence between the two. Ozpin takes his white coffee mug in hand and takes a small sip from it.

Placing it down, he speaks. "Ruby, I won't deny that the things you've gone through have damaged you. However, the fact of the matter is, you and your sister are both still here. The mere fact that you are still able to move forward proves that you have not yet been broken. Damaged, yes, but still fully functional."

"How am I _'fully functional'_ if I have take pills to keep myself from freaking out. I can't even deal with being asked a simple question without completely having a mental breakdown and running behind a dumpster to take my daily dose of crazy pills."

He raises a brow. "So you believe your social anxiety is a problem?"

"Yes. The fact is, Mr. Ozpin, I can kill Grimm better than I can talk to a person."

"In that case, let's work on that, shall we. That woman you mentioned running over; did you ever get the chance to apologize for that?"

Ruby eyes the professor suspiciously. "N…No, I… freaked out and ran off. That's how I ended up behind the dumpster. I really did try, I just-"

"It's fine", he interrupts. "Don't worry, I'm not angry with you. However, that still won't do. That's why I want you to find this woman and formally apologize to her without teleporting this time."

Ruby stares at Ozpin, his words not quite sinking in just yet. "…I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh." He clears his throat. "I said, _'I want you to find this woman'_-"

"No, no, I heard what you said, just… what?"

"Ruby, if we're going to overcome this anxiety you have with being near others, we have to take the initiative. We're never going to take care of this if you don't try to open up."

"You say that as if it were so easy to do. Did you forget about the fact that I need to take pills to keep myself from having mental breakdowns? Now you want me to go directly to the source of that problem?"

"The woman is the source of your problem?"

"Don't you dare pull a Yang on me, Mr. Ozpin. You know good and well that wasn't what I meant. I was talking about _speaking_… to her…"

"Well, the first step to fixing your, as you call it, _'problem'_ is first admitting you have one, which you have already done. The next step is to confront it. And this situation is the perfect way of starting. I'm not asking you to become roommates with this woman, a simple _'I'm sorry'_ will suffice."

Ruby squirms nervously in her seat as she bites into her lip. "I don't know, Mr. Ozpin… I don't think I can do this."

"Well of course not with that sort of attitude." He reaches over and takes his cane into hand. Using it for support, he stands from his seat and walks around his desk over to Ruby. "Ruby, I know you're afraid, but I also know that you can do this… I have a proposition for you."

She looks up at the man standing beside her.

"You only have to do it one time. That's it."

She looks at him curiously. "What to you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. I only ask that you give it one try. I want you to find the woman, and try to approach her. If you can, apologize to her and be on your way. If you find that you simple can't bring yourself to do it, then that's fair enough and we'll try again another day when you feel ready. Does that sound good to you?"

She thinks about it for a moment, her lips pursed and her hand on her chin. She looks up at Ozpin. "…Only once?"

"That's all I ask. However, there are a few conditions I want to make clear. Firstly, no teleporting."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Not kidding you."

She groans, putting her face I her hands. "…Next."

"Second, you have to honestly try. I don't want to find out that you simply pretended to approach this young lady and then vanished off into the abyss."

"How would you know if I did?"

Ozpin gives the girl a look from behind his glasses. She finds herself flinching back under his gaze. "I'll know."

She gulps. "Noted… A-Anymore terms?"

"Yes, one last condition." He lifts his cane and taps the orange bottle in her hand. "I don't want you depending on these. They are not cures for your anxiety, only temporary detractors from your pain. Do not put too much faith in them."

She looks down at the bottle, shaking it to hear the many pills inside it. She breathes.

"They help…"

"Maybe, but only a little. Don't let them control you. The goal is to make it the point where you won't need to use them anymore. These pills are only temporary; necessary _for the time_. Do you understand?"

She sighs and nods slowly. "Can I… still keep them on me… just in case?"

Ozpin nods. "I think that would be safe. But they're only for emergencies, understood?"

"Understood…"

"Good. Then do we have a deal?"

She hesitates for a moment, looking to ground in deep thought.

"Ruby…" She looks to Ozpin. "I believe in you. You can beat this. I know you can."

Her hand squeezes the bottle and she puts it in her pocket. Giving a nervous smile, she nods. "Okay… I'll do it."

He smiles. "Good. Then you'd best be going. It's a big city and it might take you some time to find your little friend."

"I guess. But, then again, it won't be so bad. I'm pretty sure I can find one blacked haired, yellow-eyed girl. I've got this."

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

"Oh my god, I don't have this!" she groans as her head slams to the table. "What was I thinking? Why did I think I could find one girl in such a ginormous city? This is impossible!"

As the young girl whines to herself, the bustling of the coffee shop continues, paying her no mind. People walk in and out of the store, ordering drinks, chatting amongst one another, or simply take advantage of the free Wi-Fi. It's likely young Ruby wasn't even noticed by anyone, really, which she had no complaints about.

On the other hand, she is wearing a bright red cloak, so that was probably unlikely.

She hid under her large hood as she always did when out in public. Her forehead rested on the small table she sat at alone in the corner of the shop. Her frustration with the day was taking its toll on her, and she wasn't sure how long she would be able to go on.

"How am I supposed to apologize to that lady if I can't even find her?" She sighs. "I can't go back to Mr. Ozpin like this, he'll be so disappointed. I really did try, it's just... Ugh!" She slams her head again. "...Ow."

She sits up, rubbing her now sore forehead. "Well, I did the best I could, at least. How was I supposed to find one single woman anyway? That's almost impossible, even with my pow-"

"Hey there, I'm sorry kid. Almost didn't see you sitting back here."

Ruby jumps from the sudden appearance of one of the waitresses beside her. Out of pure habit, she takes her hood and pulls it down over her entire face. After a moment, she looks up and peeks out at the waitress, who stood smiling brightly, holding a pen and notepad.

"Did I scare ya'?" she asks. "My bad, I didn't mean to. Can I make it up to you with something from the menu?" She chuckles.

Ruby swallows spit. For a moment, she considers vanishing from sight and not bothering with this. However, a nagging voice in her head keeps her from running.

She may not have found who she was looking for, but maybe this would compensate. She had to do this. It was just a waitress, no big deal, right? So, taking a deep breath, she opens the menu before her and skims through the drink section. Her eyes spot a pretty safe choice; medium fruit punch.

Her hand shaking, she slowly moves to point out the beverage she wanted to the waitress. "U...Um..." she stutters. Her mouth started to run dry. "C...C...Can I... Can I have...?"

The waitress leans over to look at what Ruby was trying to point out. "Ah! I got you, Ms."

She starts to write down the drink order, giving Ruby the chance to sit back and breath. Her heart was still beating rapidly, but it slowed down a little after she was able to convey her order. Finishing up, the waitress clicks her pen and places it in her apron.

"Okay! One cup of black coffee coming right up!"

Ruby nods absently before realizing what the waitress had said and scrambles to correct her. "W-Wait, I…!"

"Be back in a moment, sweetie!"

And just like that, she had started to walk off, not giving Ruby the chance to change her order. Ruby deflates, leaning back into her seat. She closes her eyes, groaning.

"Way to go, Ruby..." she chastises herself, before putting her face in her hands.

"Oh, excuse me ma'am, didn't see you there."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine."

Wait a minute...

"That voice..." Ruby says to herself.

Slowly, she lifts her face out of her hands and turns her head to left, the direction the sound of the familiar voice came from. Two men stand in the way of the one Ruby was looking for. They conversed for a second and Ruby waits with bated breath for them to move just a little.

Then, they finally do and her eyes widen at who she sees sitting there.

"It's you..."

Sitting at a table alone, the yellow-eyed woman has one leg crossed over the other. A novel was held in her hand as her eyes scan over the pages. The unoccupied hand reaches for the mug sitting on the table and she lifts it to her mouth. The rest of the table top space was covered with three other books, a stack of different colored notebooks, and various, unorganized papers.

Ruby stares on as the woman adjusts her glasses, probably unaware of the young girl's existence. Ruby gulps as a bead of sweat rolls down her face. Her heart rate had increased upon seeing the very woman she expected never to find again.

The woman, by some uncanny stroke of luck, she found in a small coffee shop.

"Here you are, kiddo!"

Jesus, is this girl a ninja or something?!

Once again, Ruby finds herself jumping from the young waitress' sudden appearance. She looks up to see a mug of black coffee on her table.

"Just tell me if you anything else, okay?"

And, once again, she's gone, leaving Ruby with a cup of coffee she didn't asks for. Curious, she slides the drink toward her and takes up the straw. After putting it in the drink, she gives it a little sniff, recoiling from the strange smell. Cautiously, she puts her lips on the straw and sips on the-

"Pft! Ack! Ugh!"

The young girl starts to wipe her tongue on the sleeve of her jacket, her face twisting in disgust. She pushes the mug away as if it were poison.

"How does he drinks this stuff?!"

Ignoring the mug of crap and the bad taste in her mouth, she focuses her attention on the reason she was in this coffee shop to begin with. Now filled with an unexpected adrenaline, the young girl balls her fist and stands from her seat. A determined look in her silver eyes, she walks over to the woman with a confident stride.

"E-Excuse me! Miss!"

Hearing the voice beside her, the black haired woman looks up from her book. "Yes, can I help you?" she asks, turning her head to see...

Nothing... Absolutely nothing.

She looks around confused, unsure if she really heard a voice just now. Placing her book down, she investigates her surroundings, expecting to find someone. However, everyone in the coffee shop seemed to pay her no mind, going about their business.

"Huh..." she says as she leans back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. On the floor next to her, something catches her eye, something rather familiar looking: a pile of red roses, fading away as if they were never even there.

* * *

**. . . . .**

* * *

"Gahhh! Why did I do that?! What was I thinking?!" she screams as she paces the rooftop, her hands gripping her hair. "He said no teleporting and what did I do?! Crap! Crap! Crap! CRAP!"

_Pow!_

"OW!"

Ruby takes hold of her foot as it throbs in pain.

**Comes with the territory, really. That's what usually happens when someone kicks a solid wall with that much strength.**

**It's safe to say that the little red girl wasn't having the best of days...**

"God, I hate these friggin' walls!"

**Ouch...**

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

She sips on her tea, her eyes glued to the book in her hand. As the crowd of people went about their business, she was wandering in her own little world, inattentive of her surroundings, seemingly vulnerable to any surprises around her.

Key word: _seemingly_.

"You know, some people don't take too kindly to others staring at the back of their heads."

She could actually hear the young girl's breath hitch behind her. She can't help but to smirk, amused.

"There's an empty seat here, you know? You're more than welcome to take it, I won't mind." A moment passes and her little watcher still hasn't made a move. She rolls her eyes. "Come over here, little red. I know you're there already."

Finally, small footsteps slowly approach her table, and, from the corner of her eye, she can see a red hooded figure walk from behind her.

Ruby turns around nervously, the consideration of vanishing really seeming tempting right now. Her head is bowed as she does her best to avoid eye contact with the black haired woman.

"Sit down", the woman tells Ruby. Ruby eyes the chair, but doesn't move to take it. The woman sighs. "Believe me, kid, if I were upset with you, it would be very obvious. Now please, take a seat."

Ruby audibly gulps, sweat rolling down her face, body shaking. Never the less, she pulls the chair out and slowly lowers herself into it. Her eyes still stay on the floor. Her hands sit on her lap. The woman places her book down.

"You've been watching me for 2 days now. You usually sat in that corner by the window over there." Ruby is visibly surprised. "Yeah, I've known all along. Honestly, I just wanted to see what you would do. I figured confronting you about it would scare you off and then I'd never know. But you can understand why I'm a little suspicious of you, right?"

Ruby doesn't answer. She only squirms in her seat, her eyes darting back and forward.

The woman leans forward, her elbows on the table. "I don't know if you're just some little creeper, or someone who wants to hurt me." Her gaze pierces into Ruby, the young girl's heart beating faster by the second. "You aren't trying to hurt me... are you?"

Ruby quickly looks at Blake, her mouth open, ready to defend herself. However, she can't say anything. She completely freezes up, her mouth going dry. Her hands begin to convulse.

"Hey again!"

You've got to be kidding! She did it again!

Ruby, once again, pulls her hood completely over her head, balling up and quivering in her seat. The maid gives her a strange look, her brow raised, hand on hip. Studying the scene, the woman smiles, sighing to herself and sitting back in her chair.

"I suppose that answers that", she says.

The waitress scratches her head. "Man, this is the third time I've scared you. I'm really sorry, sweetheart, I've really got to work on that." She looks at the yellow-eyed woman. "Oh, do you two know each other?"

She looks at Ruby, then back at the waitress. "We've only met recently, but yes, I know her, Taylor."

The maid giggles. "Well, you're little friend here's a jumpy one. Can I get you two some drinks?"

"Actually, can I get a refill on this?" She hands Taylor the mug.

"Can do! And what about you, sweetie? You want anything?"

Hearing the question, Ruby emerges from her ball, still shaking. Breathing deeply, she wills herself to sit right in her seat and search the menu. Once again, she finds the fruit punch. Time to try this again.

"Can... Can I... Can I... Can I get...?" she stutters, pointing at the drink with a shaking hand. The woman lifts a brow, curiously watching.

The waitress looks over her shoulder and nods. "Right! Same thing as last time. Coming right up, ladies." Putting her pad in her apron, she begins to walk off.

Ruby goes to grab her, but misses. "W-Wait...! Ms...!" But she's too quiet for the waitress to hear her and she sinks into her seat. "Not again..."

The woman, watching Ruby, crosses her arms over her chest. "Taylor!" she calls out to the waitress, getting her attention.

Taylor walks back over to the table. "Yeah? Need something?"

"You got her drink wrong", she says, pointing at Ruby, who looks up, surprised at being addressed.

"Wait, what?" She takes out her notepad and goes over it. "She wanted the black coffee, right?"

"No, she was pointing at the fruit punch. It just looked like she was refereeing to the coffee."

"Aw, you're kidding me!" She turns to Ruby. "Well, why didn't you tell me that? I really didn't know!"

Ruby looks at the floor. "I'm... I'm sorry..."

"No, I should be sorry. Let me fix that up for ya'. This ones on the house, okay?"

The waitress walks off, this time with the right order. Ruby sighs in relief at not having to deal with that disgusting beverage she had last time. Looking up at the woman, she sees her face on her arm, a smirk her lips. The young sits up, averting her eyes.

"T...Thank you..." she says.

"My pleasure", the woman says. "Now, I believe we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry for trying to intimidate you before. I just needed to be sure you really weren't up to no good. But, judging by what I've just witnessed, I'm fairly certain I'm in the clear."

Ruby blushes, biting her lip.

"Let's try this again, shall we? We should start with our names. I'll go first. My name is Blake. Blake Belladonna" She leads Ruby on. "Now you."

The young girl squirms in her seat, her hands between her legs, her silver eyes avoiding Blake's yellow ones. "...R...R...Ruby... I'm Ruby... Hello..."

The woman smiles, bemused. "Hello."

Ruby smiles back awkwardly. The black haired woman looks on, waiting for a response. Ruby begins to sweat at this _'riveting'_ conversation she found herself in.

Swallowing, she decides to speak. "I, uh, I ran over you... two days ago... Yeah..."

She looks at Ruby. "Right, your the girl that almost had a heart attack, I remember you. Thanks for that, by the way."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's fine."

"A-Are you okay...?"

"Quite."

"Okay..."

"Yep."

Silence.

"Not very talkative, are you?" Blake asks.

Ruby shakes her head. "I'm sorry."

"You say that a lot, you know that? Don't worry about it. I'm not the most social person in the world either. I prefer to be left alone with my thoughts."

Ruby looks up quickly. "I-I can leave if you-"

"You're fine. I was just talking." Ruby falls back to her seat, quite. "But, if you really want to leave, I'm not stopping you. I don't mind you sitting here though. Just leave when you're ready."

With that, Blake picks up her book and continues reading. Ruby eyes the woman from beneath her hood. Seeing her going back to her previous activity, Ruby lowers her head again.

The young girl takes a look around the table, not knowing how to progress the conversation. That's when she notices a book that looks strangely familiar. The title catches her eye and she can't help but to take interest in it.

"Is that _'Destiny's Sky'_?" Ruby asks. Blake looks up. "I... I've read that one before."

This catches the other girl's attention and she slightly drops her book. "Oh?"

Ruby nods, looking up at Blake. "Y-Yeah. It's about a... bird trapped on this world, right? It was banished from heaven and condemned here for all eternity. But it turns out that the bird was actually a demon all along but it refuses to accept that and wants to defy that truth. I think that was how it went... right?"

Blake's book had now completely been placed on the table as the woman looks at Ruby, intrigued. "Wow... not a lot of people know the story."

"It was one of my favorites. I-I have a sister that read it to me when we were kids and we used to take turns doing the chapters. I remember not liking the ending, though. It was kind of... depressing. I really wanted the bird to find peace."

The woman chuckles a little. "Yes, I was a bit torn on it myself. But I see why the author made it that way."

"R-Really?"

"It's a bit strange, but, despite not really liking, I complete agreed with the ending. I though it fit nicely that he faded away in the end."

Ruby rubs her head. "I just thought he was cute."

A small smile forms on Blake's lips. Ruby sends a small smile back as a blush appears on her cheeks from embarrassment. She can't help but to look down at the table's other contents. A sheet a paper with various notes scribbled on it the was first to catch her eye.

"You... write stories?"

The woman looks to where Ruby was looking and nods lightly. "It's a hobby of mine. Just something I do in my free time."

Ruby goes to pick the paper up but hesitates, looking at Blake. "D-Do you mind if I...?"

Blake gives a concerned look. Her hand rubs her neck. "I... I don't know... I'm a bit self conscious about my writing..."

Ruby withdraws her hand. "I-I'm sorry. I won't read it if you don't want me-"

"No, no, it's fine." Blake shrugs her shoulders. "I... suppose one story wouldn't hurt."

Ruby smiles. "Are you sure?"

Blake smiles back. "Sure. Why not?"

Ruby takes the paper and slides it in front of her on the table.

For a good 15 minutes, Blake and Ruby read their respective stories in silence. While Ruby fully focuses on her paper, Blake can't help but to look up from her book and watch Ruby every once in a while. In fact, she was so intent on watching Ruby that she completely forgot that she had a book in her hand.

While the red headed girl forgot about the world around her, so engrossed in the short story, Blake felt as if much more time had gone by than the actual amount. The clock ticked painfully slow for her, every minute feeling like hours. Eventually, she put down her book altogether and waited for Ruby to finish.

Then, a glass hits the table and the paper is slid back. Blake waits with bated breath as Ruby sits in silence for a moment. After a moment, Ruby looks up and right into Blake's eyes, she staring back. And then...

"Wow..."

"...Um..." Blake says. "Excuse me...?"

"Ms. Belladonna, that was... wow!"

Blake is shocked by Ruby's excited reaction. "You... You really like it?"

"Liked it? I absolutely loved it! That was such a well-written story. I didn't even want to put it down! Oh man, I wish it didn't have to end. That was incredible! God, you really are a great writer, Ms. Belladonna!"

Blake tries but ultimately fails to hold back a smile. She finds herself squirming in excitement from Ruby's enthusiastic excitement. "Thank you so much, Ruby... I've... never had anyone read my stories before."

"Well, I don't see why not. You're a fantastic writer, Ms. Belladonna. I wish I could read more."

Blake looks down in thought for moment. "Well... I'll tell you what. If you come back here tomorrow... I might have more stories for you to read... If you'd like."

Ruby looks at Blake, expecting to hear a _"hah, jk, lol, get the heck out of here you little brat"_, but sees Blake smiling warmly at her. Ruby's own smile grows larger across her lips.

"Y-Yes, o-of course!" Ruby nods her head. "I-I'll be here! Thank you so much, Ms. Belladonna!"

Blake shakes her head, chucking. "Please. Call me Blake. And I look forward to seeing you again, Ruby."

**From there, a friendship started to blossom. One the little red girl did not expect.**

**The next day, she kept her promise. Returning to the same diner, Blake and Ruby spent the day reading. Blake would read the novels she collected over the years while Ruby would read the stories Blake has written over those same years.**

**They would each order their respective drinks, then lose themselves in the separate yet similar worlds they enjoyed traveling to so much.**

**After that first day, it would be a few more before the young girl would return. Blake wondered if she had scared little Ruby off somehow. Perhaps that one-time deal was exactly as thought; a one-time deal.**

**However, the little red girl thought otherwise.**

She is tapped on the back by a small finger. Waking from her world of fiction, she turns around, her eyes widening in surprise. Ruby stood there smiling, her hands behind her back.

"R-Ruby", Blake says, trying to hide her surprise. "I-I thought you were gone. Where have you been?"

Ruby scratches the back of her head. "Sorry I was gone so long. It just... wasn't quite ready yet."

Blake tilts her head to the side. "Ready? What wasn't...?"

That's when Ruby takes her hands from behind her back. In her hands were three pages, stapled together neatly. They were each covered in words, front and back. She holds the packet to Blake.

"What is this?" Blake asks.

Ruby moves around nervously. "Well... after reading some of your stories... I wanted to... you know... try writing my own... and I thought that maybe... I mean, maybe you could... I don't know..."

Ruby doesn't have to finish her thought for Blake to figure out what was being asked. For a moment, Blake can only stare, unsure of how to answer. But, she managed to smile warmly and take the papers. Ruby looks up at Blake, expectedly.

"I would be more than happy to, Ruby", Blake says.

The young girl smiles widely.

**From that point, the two had swapped stories every time they met. They had created a schedule: certain days to meet up. This would give the two enough time to write and hone their craft. Once they met up again, they'd swap stories, review each other, and even exchange ideas.**

**With every meeting, the young girl found herself having more fun than the time before. She'd never had an experience like this. While she was still reserved to calling Blake her friend...**

**She felt... happy around her. Yeah... happy.**

**And on the other hand, Blake's feelings for Ruby started to grow.**

"You know, it's strange..."

Ruby looks up from the story she was reading as Blake talks. "What is?"

"This... Truthfully... I've never been the best in dealing with others. I've... always been alone, really. I mean I was fine with it, don't get me wrong. It's just..." She looks at Ruby. "I'm having... a lot of fun hanging out with you. I guess I'm just not use to it... not being alone."

Ruby blinks. Then, she smiles brightly. "That's good to know, Blake. I like being with you, too."

Blake smiles back.

Ruby goes back to reading the story in her hand. As she reads, she reaches out for the tray of frosted cookies in the middle of the table. She takes three and shoves them in her mouth, her cheeks puffing out from the amount of food in her mouth.

Blake watches, chuckling to herself at the amusing sight. At the same time, she notices that Ruby has a stray crumb on her lip. She decides to reach out and grab it, Ruby turning to the woman. Realizing what was going on, the two look at each other for a moment before Ruby smiles and goes back to reading.

Looking at the crumb, Blake shrugs her shoulders and inserts it into her mouth casually.

**The two's relationship only grew with every passing day. Weeks went by as the two enjoyed one another's company. There were times Ruby's thoughts strayed to Yang.**

**She honestly wasn't sure how to tell her about Blake, something she really wasn't looking forward to, really. She always knew Yang was very protective over her, and she was unsure how her sisters would react. Maybe she could tell her one of these days. But, that might be more later than sooner.**

**And, to be truthful, the little red girl wasn't particular sure how to deal with the relationship. This sort of thing was so alien to her. The only people she'd ever really been close to were Yang, and Professor Ozpin, and he was only connected to her to a certain extent. How was she supposed to handle being with Blake? How would things develop?**

**Well, for starters, she'd be meeting Blake somewhere beside the coffee shop.**

She stares at the mat in front of the door. On it was word _"welcome"_ in nice, purple lettering, although, Ruby wasn't exactly feeling too welcome at the moment. Blake leaned on the doorframe at the top of the three stairs, arms crossed as she waited for Ruby to make a move.

When she continues to remain fixated on the wonderful welcome mat Blake picked up for 50 cents at a dollar store, she decides to intervene.

"Door's wide open, Ruby", she says. "You can come in at any time. I'm not stopping you, really."

Ruby looks up at Blake. "I… don't think this is good idea…"

"Well, what happened? When I suggested this last week, you seemed relatively okay with the idea. Did something happen between then and now?"

"Yeah. I lost my confidence."

"What are you so afraid of?"

Ruby shakes her head. "I just… I've never done this before. I've never had someone whose house I could just walk into. I feel like I'm intruding, or something. I don't want to be a bother to you, and I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to-WAH!"

In the middle of her rambling, Blake takes the initiative and grabs Ruby's wrist, pulling her inside the house, across the doormat. The young girl stumbles a little. When she regains her balance, she turns around to promptly chastise Blake about the sudden act of force. However, she stops short when she sees the woman smiling at her.

Ruby looks around to see that she is, in fact, inside of Blake house. Standing up straight, she looks back at Blake.

"…Huh", is all she says.

Blake, still smirking, starts to walk past Ruby and to the staircase directly in front of her. "Come on. I'll go make some tea. Then we can get started for the day."

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

* * *

Fora little while now, the two girls had been drinking tea and reading the many books Blake kept in her miniature library. They scavenged the room, picking out a few books that caught their eyes. Once that was decided, they settled in Blake's bedroom and had themselves a good time, drinking tea, reading, and simply conversing about nothing.

"Hehehe", Blake chuckles, turning the page of the book she held. "Ruby, your sister sounds insane. She tied him up with the swing chain?"

Ruby laughs. "Yeah, really. She warned him over and over again not to touch her hair, but he just kept grabbing at it. Every time he made a move for it, I think I had a mini heart attack. I just knew the situation was gonna get out of hand sooner and later. Needless to, I was absolutely right. It took 5 of the teachers to restrain Yang!"

Blake's eyes widen. "5? Did that work?"

Ruby snorts. "Heck no that didn't work! She either tossed each and every one of them off her, or burned the heck out of them and kept swinging the kid around with the chain. He was crying like a baby the whole time. The funniest part? The entire time, he never let go of the strand of hair he snagged. He was absolutely determined to keep it!"

"Why would he go through all of that for a strand of your sister's hair?"

After taking a big gulp of her drink, Ruby places it back down and continues with her story. "Yang was REALLY protective of her hair. See, she wanted to grow it out nice and long like a giant mane. She thought she had the prettiest hair in the whole entire world and really did not like it getting messed up any even the smallest of ways. One little touch and she exploded! So, naturally, that started this little contest to see who could do the impossible. That was the first sign she had a semblance actually."

Blake shakes her head, laughing. "Goodness. That's one hair trigger temper your sister has."

"Well, that's my hot headed sister for you."

The two suddenly pause, slowly looking at each other.

"…You realize we just made 2 really stupid puns back to back, right?"

Blake blink. "I noticed."

A moment of silence passes before the two laugh at their little accidental pun off. Blake calms down, looking at Ruby who was giggling like a child, holding her stomach, trying to stop herself.

"This is so strange."

Ruby calms down a little, a chuckle or two still escaping. "What is?"

Blake scoots closer to Ruby and pokes cheek. "This." Ruby giggles from the touch. "I never knew you could laugh like this. The most you've ever given me was a shy little giggle."

Ruby smiles softly. "Yeah, it's a… bit weird for me, too… I mean, I can still do stuff like this, it's just... not really commonplace now a days."

"Well… I think you have a nice smile."

"I could say the same for you. You always struck me as the cold, distant type; someone whose highest capacity for laughter was a sarcastic smirk here and then."

Blake smirks. "Yes, I… suppose I haven't really smiled like this in a while. I almost forgot what it was like… to have this much fun with someone."

Ruby's smile sinks as her brows knit in a slight sadness. "Why are you alone, Blake? Don't you have someone whose there for you?"

Blake rubs her arm and looks away from Ruby. "I… used to, at one point."

"Well… Where are they?"

The black haired woman sighs. "We… aren't really on good terms right now. There was… a bit of friction between them and I… Now… we don't really talk anymore…"

"Have you tried reconciling with them?"

"It's not quite that easy, Ruby. Sometimes… some bonds can't be repaired?"

Ruby's eyes avert to the floor. "I'm… sorry to hear that."

Blake shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing for you to worry about. I'm fine now, really. I've had years to move on with my life, and, honestly… I feel happy. My life is better than ever before."

A smile tugs at Ruby's lips. "I'm glad to hear that, Blake."

"And besides…" Blake wipes back some of Ruby's hair from her face. "I have an adorable new friend now."

Ruby blushes. "Friend… I've… never had one of those before…"

"Then I would be more than honored to be your first." The two look at each other, smiling. A bead of sweat rolls down Ruby's forehead. Blake is quick to notice. "Ruby, you should really take that jacket off."

Ruby is confused for a moment before she wipes her head, noticing the sweat on it. "Oh, this? It's no big deal. I'm fine."

Blake sighs. "Ruby, you're gonna burn up if you keep sitting here with that thing on. I already told you my AC unit isn't working right now."

Ruby brings her knees to her chest. "I… I don't know… I don't really feel comfortable without my cloak."

Blake scratches the back of her head. "Well… I guess if it's that important… How about this? Do you have an undershirt of some sort underneath all those layers?"

Ruby pulls her clothes up and checks. "Yes."

"Okay. Then just take your jacket off for a second, remove the other layers, keep your undershirt on, and then put the jacket back on. It might feel better than having to wear all of it, right?"

Ruby ponders Blake's idea for a moment, putting her finger on her chin. "Yeah, I… guess that'll be okay. I can handle that."

"Good to hear. Go ahead and undress."

Ruby starts to slide off her jacket before stopping suddenly.

Blake's brow rises. "Problem?"

There is a luminescent blush on Ruby's cheeks. "…You're sitting right there…"

Blake smirks, holding in a laugh. "Ruby, you're wearing a shirt underneath."

"Still weird. Don't look."

"Don't you undress in front of your sister all of the time?"

"No."

Blake can't help but to let out a small chuckle. Rolling her eyes, she turns around, covering her eyes. Confirming that Blake isn't looking, Ruby continues to undress. The woman decides to have a little fun with the young girl and try to sneak a little peak-

"No peaking!"

That plan a failure, Blake quickly covers her eyes again, laughing. "You are a shy little girl, you know that?"

"I've been told, now don't peak. I'm almost done, okay?"

But Blake was still in the mood to mess with Ruby. So, she decides to play off last time as pure luck and try again. This time, she is able to peak and not be caught immediately. However, her smile slowly fades as something on Ruby's shoulder catches her eye.

"What in the world…?"

On Ruby's shoulder were three large scars. They looked old as if having been on Ruby's skin for years now. They were slightly obscured by her long red hair, but they were large enough to still be plenty clear.

"Goodness, Ruby", Blake says, inching closer. "What happened here?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby says absent mindedly, not paying much attention.

Blake crawls closer to Ruby, reaching out for her arm. "The scar on your shoulder? What happened to you?"

"Wait, scar? Blake, what are you-"

_Touch._

The moment Blake's fingers come in contact with Ruby's scar, the young girl freezes up, her eyes going wide.

In her mind, countless images flash by. Images of the day that changed her life, various images of blood-splattered walls, pictures of shadow like creatures with piecing red eyes. For a moment, her thoughts hold still on an image of a blonde haired woman, bloodied, a warm smile on her face. Her hand was outstretched, cradling Ruby's face…

"AHHHH!"

She spins around, screaming, slashing Blake's hand. Blood flies from Blake's hand, causing the woman to jump back in pain. Ruby pushes herself away from Blake, falling off the bed to floor on her back. Scrambling up, she moves to the corner of the room, her back to the perplexed woman.

"R-Ruby!" Blake says as she jumps up from the bed, holding her injured hand. She moves to the corner Ruby is crouched in.

"NO!"

Blake stops in her tracks, eyes wide. "Ruby?"

"Don't come near me! Don't you touch me! Don't you EVER TOUCH ME!"

"Ruby, wait. I… what's the matter with you?" Blake moves closer. "Did I hurt you-"

"_STOP!"_

Blake jumps back from Ruby's yell. It didn't even sound like the same girl. Behind her scream, there was a demonic growl of some sort.

"Don't touch me! Don't touch me!... Don't…! Don't touch…!"

Blake swallows spit. She can actually feel herself trembling. Never the less, she tries to approach Ruby again. "Ruby…!"

_Vanish!_

Ruby is gone and then appears behind Blake at the bedroom door. Slamming it open, she teleports again, this time appearing down the staircase at the apartment entrance. Blake quickly follows.

"Ruby! Wait!" Blake quickly runs after her but isn't fast enough to stop Ruby from vanishing again.

She rushes outside into the street, few people around. She looks around, desperate to find the young girl. However, there is no sign of her. Her shoulders sagging, Blake looks down to the ground. On it, a small pile of red roses lay. She bends down and takes two in her bloody hand.

"Ruby…"

**In spite of the new found friendship the little red girl managed to forge, she still remained so terribly closed off from those that wanted nothing more than to connect with her. The poor child was so hurt… so scarred, that something as small as physical contact was enough to send into such disarray.**

**But was it the small contact between hand and shoulder that scared he so much…? Or was it the thought of opening her heart to another that terrified her. A scar she was so deeply ashamed of was presented to one she still was reserved to.**

**A scar she preferred to be none existent…**

She appears in a dark alleyway, stumbling and falling ungracefully to a small puddle, soaking herself. She scrambles to her feet and runs for the wall behind a dumpster. She slides down it and hastily reaches into her pocket, pulling the familiar orange bottle out.

She clumsily rushes to screw the cap off, her hands violently shaking. When she manages to pry the cap off, she turns the bottle over and-

"Ah!"

With her hands shaking so much, she drops the entire bottle, the pills within falling out. She rushes to retrieve the medication. However, her vision begins to warp, impairing her. It was so bad that she couldn't even grab for the pills anymore.

**Unable to retrieve the medication she depended so much on, she falls to her side, breathing erratically, her heart pounding at dangerous rates. As the young girl lay on her side, she silently cries to herself, curling up in in the fetal position, giving up all together…**

**She was right back where she started…**

* * *

**Days Later**

* * *

The pages flips shut as the book closes. Her hand takes more of the page and lifts them up before letting them fall and flap shut once more. Her yellow eyes stared at the falling pages emptily. She lay in her bed, her knees falling over the side. Her tank top hung messily from her arm, but she didn't care enough to fix it.

The many books she and Ruby had pulled down to read remained untouched since the day she left. Two stacks were knocked over and covered the floor after she scrambled after the red headed girl. The two cups of tea the two were enjoying together were also on the floor, the contents having dried up and stained the carpet.

Blake sighs, letting the book fall one last time before pulling her hand back.

"Ruby…" she says softly.

_Knock-Knock._

The woman darts up at hearing her door be knocked on. Her heartbeat sped up at the possibility of the young girl having returned. Seeing as she was the only one Blake's ever brought to her apartment, she was sure it had to be her.

She swiftly hops from her bed and rushes out her room to the staircase. She runs down, jumping the last 5, and takes the doorknob. Without hesitating, she throws the door open to greet her friend.

"Ruby, I'm so sorry about… yester…"

It wasn't who she was expecting, to say the least.

In front of the door, rather than the cute young red head, a shorthaired blonde stood with her arms crossed. Her purple eyes were shadowed by the bangs that hung down over her face. A scar runs across her face and left eye.

The same eye that pierced into Blake…

"So… You must be Blake", she says. "I'm Yang: the hot headed sister. Sup?"

Blake stares with her eyes wide and mouth agape for moment. A bead of sweat rolls down her face as she stands up straight, her hand still on the door.

The hotheaded sister, Yang, and the black haired woman, Blake, stand in front of one another, staring into each other's eyes.

**And from there, we fade to black…**

* * *

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

**Be sure to visit my_ deviantART page _**_**( )**_** for awesome Grimm Tales related art, and the official Grimm Tales _Tumblr page _**_**( )**_** for cool behind the scenes stuff about the story, from production art, music I associate with the series, and more!**

**Thank you for reading this installment of Grimm Tales, and I hope to see you again for the next one!**

**Stay Happy!**

**Darkesper**


	3. 3: A Tale of Scars 1

Steam rises from the cup as hot tea is gently poured into it. Once it's just below the top of the cup, the kettle is placed down on the table with a surprisingly loud tap on the glass. These small things were never such a big deal before. The tap on the glass wouldn't be paid a second mind if this were a normal afternoon.

Of course, that would imply that this _was_ a normal afternoon. On one of those days, the young woman would be alone with her books, writings, and thoughts. And, for the most part, she was. The only difference is, this afternoon she wasn't quite alone.

She could feel those shadowy purple eyes burning into her. Every little move she made was tense, as if she were ready to be pounced on at any given moment. And to be fair, her paranoia was completely justified. Ruby had mentioned her older sister's violent tendencies towards anyone she wasn't particularly fond of when they were children. However, the red head failed to mention if those tendencies happened to quell over the years.

Judging from the way Yang looked, it was safer if Blake assumed they hadn't.

Once the tea preparations were completed, Blake sat back in her seat and waited for her drink to cool a little. Or, rather, waited for Yang to make a move. The hotheaded sister reached out and took her cup up, ignoring the obvious handle on it where one was meant to hold. Without even hesitating, the blonde downs the entire drink without even flinching from the heat. Blake can do nothing but stare, her mouth slightly open.

"D…Doesn't that burn…?" the woman hesitantly asks.

Yang places the cup down on the table and looks Blake right in the eye. "Nope", she answers outright.

After that, there was a moment of awkward silence as the two women stare each other in the eye. Yang had her arms crossed over her chest and one leg crossed over the other as she leaned back in her seat. Blake on the other hand, struggled to keep eye contact with the stone-faced blonde. And, to make matters worse, she could swear it was getting hotter by the second. The air conditioner was broken, but it never felt this hot before.

That's when Yang decided to speak. "You know I came here to beat the shit out of you, right?"

Blake made no sign of Yang's words having scared her. However, on the inside, Blake's protective senses were scrambling wildly. She nods. "I… had a feeling."

"Aren't you curious as to why I haven't yet?"

"…If I had to guess… I would say that you're giving me one final moment to explain myself. If I were to say that… would I be correct?"

Yang tilts her head. "You would indeed. Start talkin', dead girl."

Blake composes her thoughts, trying to calm herself down. She ignores the sweat rolling down the back of her neck, leaning forward in her seat, closing her eyes.

"…My intentions were not to hurt Ruby", Blake begins.

"Bull crap. She seemed pretty hurt to me. Try again, pussy cat."

"It's the truth. I honestly have no idea what it was that I did to make her act like that."

"You're losing me here. Gonna have to try harder than that if you wanna get out of this one."

"I'm not trying to get out of anything."

"Then let me ask you something, girly", Yang says as she uncrosses her legs and arms and leans forward, her first balled. "What is it you want from my sister, huh? Ya' just playin' with her feelings, manipulating her for your own gain?"

"I would never do such a thing."

"Then what is it, Belladonna? There's gotta be something you want."

"There is nothing I-."

"Drop the nice act, chick, I ain't fallin' for it. I've met plenty of people like you in my time and I know just when I spot a snake in the grass. Just cut to the bullshit and bare ya' fangs already."

"Stop accusing me of being some kind of monster!"

"I'm not_ 'accusing' _anything! I'm callin' ya' out on it!"

"I am _not_ a monster!" she screams.

"Then what are you?! Tell me what you are so I can take care of you right now!"

At that moment, both women shoot from their seats. Blake grabs a knife from the table before and brings it back. Yang's hand shoots out and grabs the hem of Blake's tank top, her other first being cocked back. Her foot raises and slams on top of the table, making both of the cups spill over.

From there, they do nothing. Blake's yellow eyes clash against Yang's purple ones. In Yang's eyes, it was almost if there was a living ember within. Blake's pupils narrow cat like, unfazed by the fire in Yang's glare.

They make no move. There is a deathly silence in the house. It was so quiet that the clock on Blake's wall could be heard ticking from the other room.

Blake decides to speak finally. "I would never intentionally do anything to harm that child…"

Yang glares on.

"What ever I did to hurt her, I wish I could take it back. She is the first friend I've ever had and the last thing I wish to do is push her away…"

"…That a fact?"

Blake takes in a deep, jagged breathe, her jaw trembling as she says her next words. "I swear on my life…"

A smile pulls at Yang's lips. "Okay."

And just like that, Yang's demonic glare simmered to a playful, laid back smirk, effectively catching Blake completely off guard. Yang releases Blake's shirt, lowing her fist and taking her foot off of the table. Blake's knife hand lowers to her side as she stands, frozen, confused.

The blonde takes the time to pick up the fallen teacups and place them upright on the table where they were originally. After straightening up her long, flowing, white cloth, she retakes her seat, crossing leg over leg casually as if nothing happened, a small grin on her face.

Blake continues to stare. "T…That's it?" she asks.

Yang nods her head. "Yep."

"So… you believe me… just like that."

Yang shrugs. "Just like that."

Blake, for a moment, isn't entirely sure how to respond. So, she quietly lowers herself in her chair, still a bit cautious. "…What happened in those 30 seconds to make you change your mind?"

"You told me what I needed to hear."

"And what did you need to hear?"

"That Ruby was right about you."

Blake's eyes widen slightly. "Excuse me?"

"Let me go ahead and clarify some things for you, girly. My sister has this journal, right? I got it for her a few months ago so she could have a little thing to vent some stress on. Thought it might help. So a few days after I found my baby sister in that alleyway, crying her eyes out, she up and leaves the apartment abruptly. But what does she forget to keep with her when she leaves? Go on, take a guess."

"…Her… Her journal?"

"Bingo. So, I'm holding her journal, she's nowhere in sight, and she hasn't talked to me since I found her. You can see that I'm worrying. I just want to know what's going on with her. But I know that journal is Ruby's private thoughts. It would be a pretty dick move to just intrude. That's when big sis mode kicks in and I stop giving a damn."

"So you read the journal."

"So I read the journal, yes, girly. And what do you think her recent entries talked about?"

Blake sighs. "Okay, I see where this is going."

"Oh, but do you? Can you guess what she had to say about you?"

"That I hurt her and that she really couldn't trust me? That I'm just a jerk she never wants to see again."

"Incorrect, Ms. Belladonna."

She looks at Yang, surprised and confused. "Wait, what? T-Then what did she say."

"If I can remember right, it was something along the lines of the whole thing being _her_ fault. That she was the one who ran off like a coward. _You_ were the one who got the short end of the stick on this one apparently."

Blake shakes her head. "But… why would she… It was my-"

"You're confused to, huh? Well, you can imagine how I felt. So did you hurt Ruby, or were you really the nice, smart, respectful girl she called you? Had to find out myself. Had to see what you'd do if I showed up. I must say, kitty cat, you definitely proved Ruby right so far." She chuckles. "Gotta be honest though, you did _not _strike me as the kind of person who's lost their cool so easily."

Blake clears her throat, calming herself down. "I'm generally not. I'm… simply not too fond of name-calling."

"Had your fair share in the past, huh?"

"Yes… Yes I did…" She sighs, putting her face in her hands. "I wish I could know what I did to that little girl… God knows I wish I could take it back."

Yang raises her hand. "Think I can help you with that one. In her journal, she mentioned you touched her scar. That true?

Blake's eyes lower at the memory of Ruby running away that day. "Yes… it is. I… I didn't know she'd react like that. I was only concerned about the scar and was a little curious. Perhaps I stepped out of my boundaries by making physical contact like that."

"Hmm… Mayhaps. But, I really doubt that."

"What do you mean."

"You touched the scar right?"

Blake nods. "I did."

"Then there you go. Honestly, it wasn't even the fact that you touched her. I'm pretty sure you made it through that safe guard when she willingly came to your house. Nah, it was the fact that you touched _that_ spot of all places."

Blake looks worried. "Did I hurt her…?"

"Nope. Just reminded her."

"Remind…? Reminded her of what?"

Yang puts her hands behind her head and closes her eyes. "Of the fact that she had them… of how she got those scars."

Blake tilts her head. "How did she…?" Blake stops short of asking her question. "I-I'm sorry… That's none of my business. I'm stepping out of my boundaries again."

Yang doesn't say anything for a second. Then, opening her eyes, she speaks. "My sister really likes you, ya' know." Blake looks up at the blonde. "You're the first real friend she's had besides me. Whatever you've been doing to make her happy, it's working. Before she came home sobbing that night, she was happier than I've seen her in a while. So what about you? Why do you like my sister so much?"

Blake takes a minute to think. "…I'm… not sure… I've never really felt this way about anyone before. When I'm with Ruby, I just feel… strange. I suppose I'm… happy when I'm near her." She laughs. "It's strange. When I first met her, she was such a nervous wreck. It took her two days just to approach me. But when she opened up, she just talked and talked. Sometimes I would just listen to her yammer on for hours about anything. Books she read, her little job at that school, you. She liked to jump from topic to topic a lot. She was so hyperactive."

She sighs, a whimsical smile on her lips. "But I'll tell you, the best part about her? It was when she smiled. She did it so rarely that it was an event when I could just… see that cute little grin of hers. It's like… when she smiled… your-"

"-whole world would light up…" Blake looks up to Yang, who had just spoken at the same time as her. The blonde had her eyes on the ground, her hands playing with the locks of her short hair. She looks back at Blake. "Yeah… I know the feeling…"

Blake's smile drops to a saddened frown. "What happened to her, Yang? Why isn't she like that all time? What made her so… afraid…?"

Yang runs her hand through her hair. "…I'm gonna tell you a little story, Blake." Blake lifts her head to Yang. Her eyes open and she looks over at Blake. "Wanna know how we got our scars?"

It was only at that moment that Blake really noticed the large red scar running over Yang's left eye and across her face. She swallows. "…Yes…"

Yang sighs, clasping her hands together. "You ever heard of the _'Patch Island Massacre'_?"

Blake nods. "Y-Yes. It happened almost 3 years ago, I believe. The Grimm had somehow broken through the barrier around Patch and slaughtered everyone there. It was said that there were-"

"No survivors, yeah. Well, I'm telling you now, they were wrong."

"What? But, how can that be. The Vale Hunters combed the entire…"

Blake couldn't finish her statement as she looked into the shadowed eye of the blonde. Realization soon sunk in.

"They were wrong. Truth is… there were only 2…"

* * *

**3**

**A Tale of Scars**

* * *

Students filled the large cafeteria room, sitting at their respective tables. A lot of the classes had their sessions ended for the day and the students decided to take advantage of the lunch hour. They all had their group of friends to fraternize with, filling seats and table up easily. There wasn't a table I the cafeteria that didn't have students sitting around it.

Well… there was one exception to that.

In one of the very back corners, an almost empty table sat alone, almost as if being unnoticed by anyone. And with it, a red jacket wearing young girl sat, just a unnoticed as the table itself. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

Ruby picked at her tray of food, not really focusing on it. Her large red headphones were over her ears, underneath her hood. Her eyes stared blankly at her lunch, her thoughts far beyond gone from the outside world. She didn't really have much of an appetite anyway. Eating wasn't really on the forefront of her mind.

Her recent breakdown took more importance at the moment.

**She was angry. For 2 days now, she'd found herself in a constant state of irritability, one she could not really explain. It was the sort of anger that slowly built up over time. Her head was pounding from the stress of her thoughts not letting her rest. This was yet another thing the little red girl had to deal with. **

**And she was not amused.**

**She was ashamed of herself. She was ashamed of how she dealt with Blake and her scar… All of the progress she made, and for what. After all of that, she was right back where she started: downing pills to keep stable, alone, without a friend.**

**And this made her angry. She felt truly pathetic.**

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Ozpin…" she says to herself quietly.

"Hi there."

She's brought out of her thoughts when she hears an unfamiliar voice. Slightly alarmed, her eyes dart up to look in front of her. On the opposite side of her lone table, a blonde haired young man sits, an awkward smile plastered to his face as he waved nervously.

Any other time, Ruby would have been freaked out by now. A random stranger interacting with her? She'd be gone from sight, no questions asked. However, at the moment, she was only curious as to who this boy was. Not scared, or worried, just… curious. Odd.

Her brow rises. The blonde haired boy tugs at the hem of his shirt. "I… I hope you don't mind me sitting here. I mean if you do, I can totally leave right now! It's no big deal, really!" She continues to stare at him wordlessly. "Okay, you know what, I'm sensing some tension here. You've made your point clear, I'll just eat my corndog elsewhere. So sorry for bothering you."

"It's… fine."

As the boy was preparing to leave, he abruptly comes to a halt after hearing Ruby's words. She herself wasn't quite sure what had made her say that, but at the moment, she didn't really… feel right. Something felt off all day, and her doing this only made that more apparent.

**Maybe she just didn't want to be alone…**

The boy grins and slowly sits back down in his seat. "Gee, t-thanks a lot. Honestly, I didn't really know where I was gonna sit if you had told me to scram. As you can see, this entire cafeteria is full of people who're either in their own little cliques, or are _'saving spots'_ for friends. So, of course, that leaves me with, what they call, the _'loser corner'_. Um, no offense."

She showed no sign of his words having bothered her. She almost looked like she wasn't even listening, her headphones placed back on her ears. He must've not noticed, because the boy continued to talk.

"…Okay, then, well, I suppose it'd be polite if I'd formally introduce myself." He clears his throat before sticking a hand out to Ruby across the table. "Hello. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc: freshman here at Beacon Academy, professional ladies man, and all around cool guy. How's it goin'?."

Ruby looks up from her food screen and eyes Jaune's hand with a curious look on her face. She looks back and forward from the blonde to his hand, not really knowing what he expected from her. Well, of course he wanted her to shake it, but that wasn't gonna happen. Letting him sit at her table was already odd enough for her, but to make physical contact with him now? Not happening.

And he seemed to slowly be realizing that as his hand slowly retracted from her, his nervous grin returning as he scratched the back of he his head.

"Okay, not much a socialist, are we…?" he mumbles. "It's cool though. I am going a bit fast here. Feel free to talk to me _whenever_ you feel like it! Or, er, don't if you… don't… feel like it… yeah…"

At this point, Ruby had forgotten all about her thought and was now listening to Jaune ramble on and on, unsure if he was ever going to stop. The answer, apparently, was an obvious no as he continued to talk.

"Tell ya' what, how about you just pretend I'm not even here! I'll eat my lunch, drink my chocolate milk and then be on my way. That way you'll be left to your own devices and I'll be out of your-"

"You sure talk a lot, you know that?" Jaune is cut off in his endless stream of words as Ruby finally speaks up. "Has anyone ever told you that you tend to ramble when you're nervous?"

Jaune sheepishly chuckles. "Hehe… I've… been told that quite a lot, actually. Although, others wouldn't really word it quite as nicely. Usually, they'd get the job done with a goof 'ol _'shut up, Jaune'_."

Ruby found herself almost letting out a chuckle at that. Strange. Why was she comfortable around this weird boy already?

"To tell you the truth, I almost didn't even come over here. I was too nervous about bothering you."

"Really?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah. Actually to be even more honest, I almost didn't even notice you sitting here when I was walking to the table. It's like, despite the fact that you are wearing a _bright red jacket_ that anyone should notice instantly, it's like you were invisible until the second I was literally staring you in the face."

Ruby tangles the cord of her headphones around her finger embarrassed. "Y-Yeah, I… actually get that a lot myself."

"Do you try to do it on purpose, or is that just something you can't control?"

For some reason, Ruby decided to completely pull down her headphones (albeit hesitantly). "K…Kinda… I mean… I don't really mind not being noticed, but I just… kind of… seem to blend in naturally."

Jaune nods, leaning forward on his hand, taking a bite out of his corndog. "Not much of a people person, huh?"

"Not exactly…"

"You seem to be okay with me… Unless I'm actually really freaking you out right now and making you super uncomfortable, in which case, I should probably go take a hike- "

"No, no…!" Ruby found herself actually putting effort into making Jaune stay as she tried to quell his worrying. He looks back at her. "It's okay… I guess you're just… easier to talk to than most…"

For some reason, a large, shining grin stretched across the boy's face as he, yet again, sits back in his seat. He laughs. "Guess you could say I'm not exactly the best with other people either."

"Well… you're way better than I am."

"I have to try at least. My mom used to always tell me _'strangers are only friend you haven't met yet'_, you know? So, I always try my best to muster up the courage to talk with anybody anywhere."

"You actually believe in that?"

"Well… I'll admit, at first I thought it was all a bunch of crap. But, as time went on, and I found myself sitting by myself at lunch more and more, I guess I was kind of forced to believe. Food doesn't taste as good when you're alone, y'know?"

Ruby finds her hand stroking the right side of her chest where he scars was, eyes dimming as memories of the few days before once again came rushing back. The more they flooded her mind, the angrier she started to feel at herself.

"So, what's eating at you?"

Ruby is brought back to reality by Jaune's sudden question. "E-Excuse me?"

"It's written all over your face. Something bothering you?"

The red head wanted to dismiss Jaune's question and lie. But, for some reason, as she opened her mouth to do so, she found herself catching her own words. Sighing, she says, "I'm frustrated…"

He tilts his head. "What about?"

"This", she motions to herself and Jaune. "Here I am, talking to you as if we've known each other for a while now, yet we only just met a few minutes ago. But then, when I finally have the chance to really make a friend, to finally open up, I just had to freak out and ruin everything."

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm lost, who are we talking about here?"

Ruby groans. "I have this… _had_ this friend. She was really nice and really welcoming to me. At first, I was afraid to even approach her, because when I did, I would instantly run off without a trace. But, one day, she finally talked to me and turned out to be great. I managed to actually hold a conversation with her and everything. I even found the guts to actually talk to her on a regular basis. How crazy is that? I was making so much progress and… I felt happy for a while. Then, I had to go and mess everything up when all she did was touch my back. I freaked out, and then I ran off after promptly screaming at her, not even once thinking about-"

_Crash!_

"Hey, watch it!"

"Hahaha!"

Ruby and Jaune turn around to witness whatever was going on. A young boy was on the ground, his entire lunch spewed all over the place and on his clothes. Above him stood a rather muscular guy with reddish brown hair, snorting out loud, arms crossed. Behind him sitting at the table were three other boys, joining in with his laughing at the poor kid.

"Aw man!" the kid cries. "I just got these clothes clean."

The brown haired jerk laughs. "Should've watched where you were walking pipsqueak. You saw me standing there."

The kid glares at the older boy. "You pushed me down!"

He was not pleased by the kid's back talking and his boy's loud _"ohhh"_ were only fueling the flames. The man reaches down and takes the boy by his shirt, lifting him from the ground. The kid looked about ready to pee all over himself.

"I'm sorry, did you just back talk me, punk?"

The boy audibly gulps. "N…No, of… of course not-"

"Good. Cause for a second there, I thought I'd have to put a crater in your face. And we both know that I wouldn't want to do that, now don't we?"

Thy boy shakes his head, sweat rolling down his face. "…N…No…"

"Good!" With that, he throws the kid down. "Now scram before I change my mind, dork!"

As the man and his friends laugh, the boy shoots from the ground and darts off, not daring to take a second look back.

"Who's the jerk?" Ruby asks.

Jaune sighs. "You ever see the movies where there's, like, a high school, or something like that, and it always has to have the stereotypical bully for the audience to hate and root against?"

"Yeah."

"Well, meet Cardin Winchester: the studio's number one pick for the role. He's been a jerk since the first day of school. Anybody he could exploit, abuse, or just plain make depressed was the target for Cardin's wrath of jerkitude. Not a lot of people really seem too fond of him, other than the _'three stooges'_ sitting around him. Guy's a class _'A' _douche if ever there was one."

At that moment, Ruby had a thought after piecing together a few details. Turning to Jaune, she asks, "Jaune, is… that why you're sitting here? Because that guy's picking on you?"

"What? Cardin picking on me? Hah! Come on! I mean that's completely… and undoubtedly… true… B-But don't worry though, it's not just me! Cardin picks on everyone. It's equal opportunity misery with him. You've gotta admit, for a jerk, he definitely doesn't discriminate. Except that he does."

Ruby takes one last look at the bully, shaking her head. She looks back to Jaune who had a solemn smile on his face.

"See. We all have our frustrations to deal with." Ruby's eyes lower to her lap as her hair hangs over her face. "This whole thing going on with your friend is really bothering you, huh?"

The young girl nods. "…She only wanted to be my friend… but, just like everything else, I found a way to mess that up. It was just a little touch on the back, that's all. It isn't even like it hurt, it just… scared me." Ruby puts her face in her hands. "I'm such a screw up…"

Jaune leans back in his seat. "I know how you feel. Can't tell you how many times I've screwed up potential friendships just by being me. Heck, I lost count a while ago. Guess that makes us both screw ups, huh?"

Ruby looks up at Jaune. "Don't you have any friends here, Jaune?"

He shakes his head. "Wish I could say I did. But, unless you count a partner that absolutely hates me, I'm pretty much on my own here."

"Partner?"

"Yeah. A few weeks back, we went through this crazy test set up by headmaster Ozpin to test our abilities in the field, or something. The crazy old guy flung us off a cliff into this section of the woods full of some of the teachers and a bunch of the older year students. I still, to this day, have no idea what any of that was supposed to accomplish."

"Why were the teachers and students there?"

"They were pretending to be enemies and stuff. You know, to see how we'd react to their tricks and survive. Of course, we were never in any real danger, but they definitely didn't pull any punches. Especially this crazy blonde chick covered in _flames_! She was out of her mind!"

Ruby almost wanted to tell Jaune that the _"crazy blonde chick"_ was her big sister, but that wouldn't be any fun, so she decided against it.

"Well, anyway, one of the rules that the headmaster set up was: the first person we made eye contact with would be our partner for the 4 years we attended Beacon Academy. Needless to say, I got the short of the stick on that one."

"Why?"

"Because _she_ got the short end of the stick with _me_. My partner was _not _happy with having to be with me for 4 years. She thinks I'm just gonna hold her back and get in her way." He sighs. "Guess I should have expected that. I'm not really the most amazingly talented person to grace Beacon."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"Why is anyone at Beacon? I want to become a Hunter." Jaune leans forwards. "See, my great-great grandfather and his father before were both amazing Hunters, legends even. So, ever since I was kid, I wanted be just like them; heroes of Remnant."

"Huh."

"A-And, I already know what you're about to say. You don't see someone like me ever becoming a Hunter, right?"

"Never said that. You're putting words in my mouth."

"Yeah, well-"

"Might have been thinking it, though." Jaune stares down Ruby for her dry sense of humor. She grins. "Continue."

The boy clears his throat. "Anyways… so, yeah, maybe I'm not the toughest looking guy here, a-and maybe I don't exactly have the skill, talent, tenacity, prowess… drive… potential… chance… like others have, but I known that, with enough time, I can be just as strong as anyone else out there. You'll see. I'll be just as big of a hero as my great-great grandfather, or even his father. I just know it."

"That's your goal huh? To be one of those heroes you hear about in the fairytales?"

Jaune eyes ruby suspiciously. "You don't sound too convinced."

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just… don't see the big deal personally. Heroes? Warriors of justice and all that junk? Not really my cup of tea."

Jaune narrows his eyes. "Oh yeah, well why are _you_ here then, huh?"

"I don't go here."

Jaune blinks. "…Wait, what?"

"I'm just the errand girl. The big man upstairs uses me for the small things he has no time for, like delivering packages and messages. Other than that and the fact that I have a bite to eat in here from time to time, I have no connection to Beacon."

"Oh… well then…"

"So, by all means, ignore me if you want. My opinion means absolutely nothing to your dreams. Are you going to eat those?"

Jaune is caught of guard by such a random question. He looks down to what Ruby was pointing at and sees the unopened bag of chips. Chuckling, he takes the bag and throws it to Ruby, who easily catches it with her teeth.

"You are a strange girl. Has anyone ever told you that?"

She shrugs. "Don't know a lot of people. Couldn't tell you. And call me Ruby, not _'girl'_, if you don't mind."

Jaune smiles. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Ruby."

She finds herself smiling back at the boy. "Right back at you, Mr. Arc."

"You seem to be feeling better about your little problem."

"Hardly. To tell you the truth, that's probably why it's so easy talking to you right now. It's more like I'm using use as a vent for my frustrations right now."

"And you're still upset?"

"And I'm still upset." She puts a hand to her neck. "I don't know, I just… don't feel good. It's like a pain in my head that just won't go away, no matter what I do. Every minute I sit here, I get more and more irritable-"

"Ow, that hurts!"

"Try pulling harder, Cardin!"

"Man, these things really won't give. Guess they really are attached to her head."

Ruby, annoyed, once again turns around to see what all the commotion was about. What she saw pretty much sent her over the brink.

Back at the _'table of super douches',_ Cardin had found his next victim to torment. A brown haired girl desperately grabbed at the larger boy's enclosed fist. In his large hand were the poor Faunus girl's two bunny ears protruding from the top of her head. Tears flowed from her pained eyes as she endured through the bullying and torment. Cardin continued to laugh along with his three friends.

"See, what'd I tell you", Jaune says, "He definitely doesn't discriminate… except when he does."

Ruby looked around, wondering why no one had intervened yet. Most of the students paid no mind to what was going on, trying their best to ignore the situation. Some purposely ignored the girl's cries, even smirking at her torment. The few Fauna around, although they looked as if they wanted to jump in, found themselves not able to make a move, even attempting to hide their own Fauna traits in fear of being targeted next.

"Why is no one doing anything?" she wondered out loud.

"Lots of different ways to answer that, Ruby. Some aren't really brave enough to stand up to Cardin; some just don't want to be bothered. There are the other Fauna who're afraid they'll get what that girl is getting, and then there are the extra few; the ones that are actually enjoying this. The one's that hate Fauna just as much as Cardin there. Whatever the reason, no one's gonna be doing anything anytime soon."

**Something the little red girl had learned in her years was to keep to herself. She was always taught to stay with her own devices, not to interfere with things that had nothing to do with her.**

**And, truthfully, she had no problem with such a lesson. In fact, as time went on, she stuck by that rule without fail. Yang had practically drilled it into her head after all, and after witnessing the things she's seen, the rule was more of a survival tactic by this point.**

**_"Leave it alone." "Don't worry about it." "It's got nothin' to do with you."_**

**She could hear Yang's words echo in her mind now. And her sister was right; none of this had anything to do with her. She was just an innocent bystander who just so happened to be around when everything started to go down.**

**It wasn't her problem, so she'd leave it alone. Simple…**

**…But, then again, Yang would have also told her, _"Please kick this guy's asshole in."_**

**And we all know how Ruby loved to let her sister talk her into things.**

Ruby rapidly stands from her seat, putting her arms through the sleeves of her red jacket. Jaune was panicking right about now, as he too stood from his seat.

"R-Ruby!" he says. "What are you-what are doing? Ruby?!"

Not paying him any mind, Ruby begins to walk- no, _stomp_ her way to the scene before her, eyes glued to the back of Cardin's big stupid head. Her fists were white from being balled so hard. Jaune trails Ruby, trying to talk her out of whatever she was planning.

"Ruby, sit back down, I really don't think you wanna do this- are you even listing to me? Ruby!"

As she walks, students start to notice her and eye the young girl as she storms across the cafeteria. On her way, she eyes a bowl full of pudding on one of the tables she was about to pass. Reaching out, without stopping, she takes the bowl up and dumps out the pudding on the floor, the boy who it belong to yelling out, "H-Hey!"

"Ruby, what are you planning on doing with that? Would you slow down and answer me already?!"

That wasn't happening, but this most surely was.

"Hey! Winchester!"

The buff blonde's eyes roll at the sound of his name being screamed out behind him. The young girl's rabbit ears still in hand, he turns around to face whoever was calling him out.

"What? Who the hell has the death wish-"

_POW!_

The last thing he sees before he promptly flops to the floor with a loud _"thud!"_ was the metallic bowl being held by a red headed girl hurling right at his face. The last thing he feels is that very same bowl smashing his jaw in.

Every single eye in the cafeteria was planted on the scene, no one saying a single word. Jaune, who had been trailing Ruby, attempting to calm the child down, stood with his jaw on the floor. Cardin's 3 lackeys and the rabbit girl mirrored Jaune's expression. Hell, it was safe to say the only ones who didn't have that look on their faces were Ruby, who just looked down right pissed, and Cardin, who just got put to sleep.

…No, he _literally _got put to sleep. He was now on the floor snoring away, a large red bump forming on his jaw.

Ruby stands up straight and throw the bowl to the side, staring down at the unconscious Cardin. No one makes a move, or the slightest of sounds. Jaune is the first to change that.

"Oh _shit_!"

Cardin's boys mimic him. "Oh _shit_!"

Now everyone else. "Oh _shit_!"

Ruby looks around at everyone with an irritated expression. "Geez, language."

Cardin's boys run over to Cardin and bend down.

"Damn, Cardin, are you okay?!" one of them asks.

"Come on, wake up, man!" the second says.

"Gonna be honest, guys, I seriously doubt he can hear you", Ruby snarks as if not even noticing the hundreds of eyes on her.

At that moment, she feels her hand being grabbed and she turns to see Jaune. "Okay, time to go!" he says before swiftly running out of the cafeteria, pulling a protesting Ruby behind him. The brunette rabbit girl is left to wonder what exactly just transpired along with the rest of the students.

However, a certain white haired girl looked a lot angrier than surprised after witnessing the entire scene. So, slamming her hands on the table, she stands from her seat and runs after Jaune and Ruby.

"Goodness, Weiss! Would you just leave her alone already?!" her redheaded friend yells as she runs after Weiss.

* * *

**. . . . .**

* * *

They'd been running for a good minute now. There wasn't a particular place they were running to, just trying to get away from the scene Ruby had created. The two find themselves in the middle of the town, away from the school.

Jaune started to slow to a stop, letting go of Ruby's hand. He keels over, hands on knees, breathing hard. However, with his harsh breaths came laughs.

"Hehehe", he laughs. "Ruby… you are… you are instantly… the most interesting person… I've met since I got here."

Ruby can't help but smile a little at that. "Should I take that as a compliment?"

Jaune stands up straight with his hands on his hips. "Oh, trust me, that was a compliment. You knocked the crap out of that jerk! That's something I could only daydream about in the middle of a boring lecture."

Ruby shrugs. "Well, I'm not a fan of bullies. I've dealt with my fair share of them before."

"You know, for someone who claims to be the antisocial type, you were pretty blunt with the situation back there."

"There are exceptions to that. I'm not the best with people. But I'm fine with people I like and people who need to be hit with a bowl."

"I'm guessing Cardin's the second kind of person."

"Oh no, he's worse. The bowl was just the closet thing nearby."

The two chuckle at Ruby's joke. "And what does that make me?"

Ruby stops her giggling and looks at Jaune, hesitating to answer. She looks away in momentary thought. However, she soon smiles and looks back at the blonde. "Can't say for sure yet. But you're leaning toward the _'person I like' _category."

Jaune gives a grin, scratching the back of his head.

"YOU!"

Ruby is struck frozen by the sound of the familiar voice. She's heard it before, in fact quite recently. Swerving around, she sees a white haired teenager running at her at high speed. Her eyes widen.

"But she is most _definitely_ someone I don't like!" she yells before teleporting away. It takes a moment for Jaune to even realize that his new red headed companion has vanished from sight. He looks around, confused at what just happen. When he hears a small squeak from behind him, he lifts his arm to see the young girl cowering behind him.

His eyes widen. "How in the world…?"

As Weiss closes in, Pyrrah also runs up behind her. "Weiss, please, control yourself!"

"Hey! Get back here!" Weiss yells as she circles around Jaune trying to get to Ruby. Ruby circles the opposite direction to keep away from her. "Don't hide behind the idiot! Stop running from me!"

"No, you're gonna yell at me!" Ruby cries.

"You're darn right I'm going to yell at you! You have some things to answer for!"

"Okay, gonna go ahead and intervene here", Jaune says before hiding Ruby behind him and stopping Weiss from chasing him. "What's going on exactly?"

"This doesn't concern you, Arc! My business is with that little criminal behind you!"

"Criminal?"

"Jaune", Ruby says from behind him. "You know this girl?"

"Uh… remember that partner who I mentioned hated my guts?"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me! This is your partner?!"

"Yeah… Oh, and her friend Pyrrha. Hi, Pyrrha."

In the middle of her panicked pacing, Pyrrha looks at Jaune and says, "Hello again."

"That's irrelevant", Weiss says, "Arc, why are you harboring a fugitive behind your back?"

"Why do you keep calling her that?" Jaune asks.

"And why are you always trying to mess with me?" Ruby asks. "I don't even know you!" At that moment, Weiss lunges and grabs Ruby's long red sleeve. "H-Hey"

"Weiss, no", Pyrrha pleads.

"Not now, Pyrrha", Weiss says before speaking to Ruby. "I'll be the one asking the questions here. You're coming with me whether you like it or not." She begins to pull Ruby with her. "Now stop struggling and let's go."

"Don't touch me!" Ruby yells as she yanks her sleeve from Weiss' grip, the white haired girl giving her a look of disbelief. "What is your deal?! I'm starting to be less afraid of you, and getting to the point of wanting to punch you!"

"My deal? I'm not the one who caused a scene back there at Beacon and then ran away right after. You can't just assault another student and expect to walk out without suffering some sort of repercussions."

"Assault? You mean that jerk who was picking on that Faunus girl? We're talking about the same guy, right? Instead of getting on my case, how about doing something about him first. He's the one in the wrong here."

"Well, I would, but _someone _knocked him to the floor unconscious. So guess who I'm going to deal with first."

"Well, let me give you fair warning, Princess." Ruby walks closer to Weiss and gets right in her face, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You touch me again and it is not gonna end well for you. That hand's coming with me if I see it anywhere near me again, got it?"

Just as Weiss was about to reply, now glaring back at Ruby, Pyrrha interrupts her response.

"Okay, that's quite enough", the woman says, stepping in between the two girls. She turns to Weiss and puts a hand on her chest. "Weiss. Stop. Leave it alone." Weiss crosses her arms and turns away with a _"humph"._ Pyrrha says, and then turns to Ruby. "I am so sorry about this. My friend here is a bit…" She looks at the stubborn white head. "…Well, I'm sorry anyway."

Ruby's shakes her head. "Whatever. Just keep that prissy little girl away from-"

_BOOM!_

In the middle of Ruby's talking, a loud explosion rings out from behind the kids. They each cuff their hands over their ears to protect their drums from the loud sound of the building exploding behind them. All around, citizens scream in panic, running as fast as they could from the scene. Smoke rises from the side of the blown up building.

The four kids slowly lower their hands from the ears.

"Holy cow…" Jaune says. "I…Is everyone o-"

_Gun shots!_

The group looks to the building again to see bullets flying out from the smoke. Running out, doing her best to dodge the bullets, a small child dashes toward the four, hands over her head, eyes frantic.

"What the…?!"

The child dashes past Ruby, who was still trying to keep up with what's been happening. The child is brought to a halt, however, when Weiss steps in her path and grabs on to her. She struggles as hard as she can to break free.

"Let me go! LET ME GO!" she screams.

"Hold it!" Weiss says. "Did you do all this?! Answer me!"

"Get off of me, damn it! Don't touch me!"

"Weiss, what are you doing?" Pyrrha asks.

Weiss looks at Pyrrha. "You saw her trying to get away! She must have had something to do with this, right?"

"Uh… Might wanna rethink that, Weiss", Jaune says, gaining everyone's attention. He points back at the building.

From the smoke, a group of 5 men walk out holding machine guns. They each wore black suits with blood red ties. On their head's were equally black fedoras and red sunglasses were placed over their eyes.

"Who… the heck are they?" Jaune asks, voicing everyone's question.

Noticeably, the child looked even more freaked out than before, completely frozen now.

At that moment, the men turn toward the group.

"There she is!" one of them says. They all lift their guns and point them at the 4 kids.

"Uh, guys!" Jaune yells.

"Move!" Pyrrha commands the others.

Guns begin to fire and the kids all dive to the ground, and then run for the nearest cover. Pyrrha and Jaune run to the left and take cover behind a building. However, Weiss and the child are cut off by bullets hitting the ground where they attempted to run. Ruby notices this and teleports from sight to them. She pushes Weiss behind an alleyway and throws the little girl behind her.

A bullet hits the ground in front of her and she jumps back.

"Ah!" Suddenly, a bullet impacts her arm and she flinches in pain. She holds her injured arm then looks up to see the guns directly pointed at her. She puts her hands out in panic. "Wait! No-No-No!"

Bullets shoot out at her and hit her multiple times. Once they stop, her body falls to the ground on it's back and she is still. Jaune and the others see her lifeless body and their eyes widen. Pyrrha covers her mouth in hair.

"Oh god…" Weiss says quietly.

"Ruby!" Jaune yells out.

Ruby does not make any move. She is still…

"Ah geez, I got one of those kids", one of the men says, sounding annoyed.

"Damn it, why the hell'd you kill her?" a second asks. "The boss is gonna be pissed now."

"She got in the way. What was I supposed to do?"

"Argh… Screw it. We can't worry about it right now. Let's just go get the kid and get out of here before the cops…"

The first man looks at the second curiously, wondering what the pause was all about. "Hey, what's up with you? Hey!" The man seemed to be staring at the body of the dead Ruby. On closer inspection, he sees his other three partners staring at Ruby's body. So, he turns as well and his mouth opens in surprise.

Weiss, Pyrrha, Jaune, and the child also stare at Ruby's body, unsure of what exactly what they were seeing.

"What in the world…?" Jaune asks aloud.

From Ruby's supposedly dead body, red aura rises, circling her slowly. It seemed to stream into her open bullet wounds and… actually _close them up_ as if they weren't there to begin with. From her lips, a low chuckle can be heard.

"Hehehehe…" Her silver eyes were now open, a grin on her face. "Oh, you're gonna have to try a _lot_ harder than that to kill me."

From there, she teleports herself to her feet, looking as good as new. She rolls her arms, stretching herself out. The 5 men in front of her have lost their grasps on the situation by now and were looking at each other.

"What the hell is she…?" one of them asks. He looks at that others. "W-Well?! What're you doin' just standing there?! Let's take that freak out!"

They all level their weapon at Ruby, preparing to squeeze the triggers. She smiles.

"You guys are definitely the second kind of people."

As they goons begin to shoot their weapons, Ruby teleports from sight, none of the bullets making contact. She reappears in the middle of them, taking them off guard. They all turn to her, but it's too late. She hits one's gun to the side and sends a punch to his face, knocking him off balance.

Turning, she kicks another's gun out of his hands, teleports again, appearing behind him. She wraps her arms around his throat and kicks his legs out from under him. Taking his arm, she twists and throws him at the third man, who ducks under the incoming goon.

A man to her right tries to hit her with the butt of his gun, but Ruby dodges, bends low, and kicks his legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Launching up from her crouched position, she flips in the air and kicks the 5th man in the face, causing him to spiral and fall to the ground.

"Wow!" Jaune says in amazement. "She's tearing them up!"

"Um, shouldn't we help her?" Pyrrha asks.

"Does she really need it?"

From across the street, Weiss glares at the scene and reaches to her side. She grabs the handle of a sword that hung from her hip and draws it out. She looks to see that, behind Ruby, one of the men has gotten back up and is about to point his gun at her.

Lowering herself, Weiss focuses her mind and a strange symbol appears under her, rotating and glowing. Suddenly, she shoots off at the man, her sword readied. Pyrrha and Jaune see this and Pyrrha to her back and pulls out a pole. The pole quickly elongates into a long spear and she runs, following Weiss.

Jaune stares on dumbfounded. "Well… I feel useless…"

Ruby, smiling, senses something behind her and she turns quickly, seeing one of the men had his gun pointed at her. She smirks and prepares to teleport. But, just as she was about to counter, Weiss appears by the man and slashes his hand, knocking his gun into the air.

He glares and sends a punch at her. She bends her neck to the side, dodging his punch. Sliding her foot out, she spins around the goon and slashes him in the back, making him lurch forward. At that same moment, Pyrrha runs at him, jumps through the air and plants her foot in his face, throwing him back and to the ground.

Landing, Pyrrha spins her staff and turns to another of the goons who ran at her. Right next to him, Ruby appears and throws one hell of a punch right into his jaw. She reaches and grabs his red tie, pulling his face back to her. Her forehead smashes into his and he crumbles to ground, knocked out.

She stands up straight, fixing her hair, looking around at the aftermath.

"I could've handle it, y'know", Ruby says to Pyrrha.

The woman smiles. "I'm sure you could have. But it wouldn't feel right letting you handle this alone."

"And it wasn't your situation to handle", Weiss nags, walking over, putting her sword back on her side. "You are in no position to deal with this."

"Oh my god, that _would_ be the first thing you say after all that", Ruby complains.

"This is the kind of thing we Huntresses are meant to do. Not some random civilian who hits people with bowls. And speaking of which, thanks a lot, Arc! You were such a big help!" Jaune, still behind the building, blushes and slowly hides behind the wall from sight. Weiss rolls her eyes. "But, getting back on you, how are you even still alive. We all saw you get shot multiple times. There is no possible way you could have survived that."

"That being said…" Pyrrha starts. "Are you… alright?"

Ruby looks around awkwardly, looking for the right words. "Um… I…"

"You're huntresses?"

The three ladies look over to see the child slowly approaching them. She had ash like black hair and bright green eyes. Her clothes were ragged, dirty, and torn, her dark skin just as filthy. Atop her head were two fluffy ears, and tale hung from her backside. On her arm was a red scarf, torn and worn.

Ruby scratches her head. "Uhhh… Well I'm not. But these two are close enough-"

"Wait a minute…" Weiss interjects, stepping toward the child, causing her to flinch back. "That scarf on your arm." Her fists ball. "You're with the White Fang!"

Upon Weiss' accusation, the child covers her arm to hide her scarf, a nervous look on her face. Pyrrha looks worried at Weiss, who glares at the young girl. Ruby raises a brow.

"Wait, the what? Someone wanna fill me in here."

Pyrrha tries to answer. "The White Fang-"

"The White Fang are a bunch of murderous, filthy degenerates who want nothing more than to cause death and destruction", Weiss says. 'They're thieves and killers who need to be put in their place and stomped out of society! They're criminals that we huntresses are trained to protect innocents from!"

"Okay, that surprisingly did not answer my question", Ruby says.

"Weiss", Pyrrha starts.

"No, Pyrrha!" Weiss yells. "Don't try to defend this kid! She's with the White Fang, we need to bring her to authorities!"

"Stop yelling for a second and just listen to me!" the young girl shouts. "I need your help."

"Really? And why would we help-"

"Weiss!" Pyrrha yells. "Be quiet for a moment and let her talk."

The child continues. "Those men: they've been chasing me for days now. I escaped from where they were holding me and now they've been trying to kill me. I know this sounds strange, but they're using me and family against our will."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. What do you mean they're using your family? Using them for what? Where are they now?"

"W-We were hiding out in the Emerald Forest from these were people who've been forcing us into slave labor. They had us chained up, doing weird things for them. There was this man with a cane, these guys in suits, and-and-"

"Calm down. You're safe now. Those people aren't going to bother you anymore. Now, we're going to take you back with us to the police and then-"

"Whoa!" Ruby yells, looking up at a building.

Everyone else follows her gaze to see another one of the men in suits holding a large weapon over his shoulder. He fires, and a missile flies at the children. It hits the ground and explodes into a cloud of white smoke, blinding them all. They all cover their mouths as they cough violently.

Ruby can hear what sounds like an approaching engine, the noise getting louder and louder. Suddenly, she sees a light rushing at her. Her eyes widening, she teleports from her spot, a motorcycle zooming by where she once. The man riding it reaches out and snatches up the young girl, she screaming at being caught.

Pyrrha and Weiss manage to run out of the smoke fast enough to see the cycle riding off with the child.

"Guys! They took the kid!" Jaune says helpfully.

"God, you are just useless, Arc!" Weiss yells.

Pyrrha looks to the top of the building to see the man throwing down his gun, preparing to run. She glares and takes up her spear Pulling it back, she takes aim. When she throws the spear, the back end shoots like a rifle, propelling the weapon at the man.

"Augh!"

It hits him, knocking him to the ground. Pyrrha nods approvingly at her handiwork. However, something else catches her eye. In the same spot the man was at, Ruby suddenly appears, crouched on one knee. Then, she vanishes again. Every time she teleports, she appears on another building, running in the direction the cycle rode off in.

"What is she doing?" Pyrrha asks.

"Is she going alone?" Jaune asks, watching Ruby run off.

Weiss glares, her teeth grit. Taking out her rapier, she bends down. Underneath her feet, a white glyph appears, spinning, glowing. Pyrrha and Jaune turn to look at the white haired girl.

"Weiss-" is all Pyrrha can say before the girl shoots through the air. While in the air, another glyph appears and she shoots off in the direction Ruby ran off in.

* * *

**. . . . .**

* * *

She sits with her hands over her face, silent. Her body shakes slightly, taking in the tale she'd just been told by the blonde across from her. The blonde herself had her eyes on the ceiling, reliving the memory that took form as her tale, arms crossed over her chest.

A shaken sigh from Blake before she speaks. "Yang… I… I can't imagine going through something like that… losing your parents that way… I… I don't even know what to say…"

Yang breathes deeply, shifting her gaze back at Blake, who lifted her head to look back at Yang. Yang smiles solemnly. "Yeah… Wasn't the best experience of my life, I've gotta be honest."

"And you and Ruby never talk about this to each other?"

"Of course I've tried to before. But the last time Ruby even acknowledged that Song was even alive was about 2 years ago. Other than that… she pretends like that day never happened."

Blake fixes her self up, rubbing her eyes. "Well… maybe that is… some kind of cooping mechanism?"

"What? Acting like what happened never happened?"

"Well, yes, Yang. That may well just be her way of dealing with things like that. She might think that… never bringing up the things that bother her will help ease the pain of knowing those terrible thing really did happen."

Yang sits forward, a hand on her knee. "And how on Remnant is that healthy at all?"

"I never said it was _healthy_, Yang. That's just how she gets through life. It may not be a good way, but it's _her way_. I'm sure you yourself have something like a cooping mechanism of sorts."

Yang snorts. "God, you sound like you're my therapist, or something."

"Is it helping?"

Yang gives Blake a confused look. "What?"

"This? Does talking to me about those memories help you?"

Just as Yang opened her mouth to answer, she found herself not really… having one. She thought about the past hour or so and the story she had just told, and to Blake, a somewhat stranger, at that.

"I… I don't know. I mean, I guess I don't particular mind this for some reason. Haven't been able to talk about that experience to anyone before. The only person I ever thought about talking to about this has always been-"

"Ruby. Right?"

Yang nods slowly. "…Yeah… Ruby…"

"I think that's why you're having such an easy time talking to me, if I have to be honest. You trust Ruby and the judgments she makes. So, since your sister seems to trust me, you must feel that you can as well."

"Wait a minute, now hold up, kitty cat. I never said anything about trustin' you."

"_You _don't necessarily have to. But since Ruby does, you naturally feel like I'm good enough for you to talk to. Tell me I'm wrong."

"Fine then. You're wr…" Yang finds her voice catching in her throat before she can say her words. For some reason, her body will not say what she wanted. She tries again. Nothing. She literally cannot say the words.

Blake lifts a brow. "So am I wrong, Yang?"

Yang sits back in her seat, unable to answer.

Blake sighs. "Look… I realize we didn't exactly get off on the wrong foot. And I also realize that I'm in no position to act like your therapist, or something of the sort. But… I can tell you have things on your mind that you wish to let out."

She leans forward. As she looks at Yang, the blonde does her best to avoid eye contact. "I know how it feels, Yang. Believe me, I do. You try to keep those feeling bottled up and pretend they don't bother you. But I know it hurts, Yang, and I know what it's like to have no one to talk to about these things. I don't expect you to just spill your life story to me, and I can tell you don't plan on it either. I just… want to let you say the things you've felt couldn't be said. I just want to help the sister of a friend I desperately wish to be with and protect."

Yang slowly looks at Blake.

"So please… continue your story…"

Yang drifts into thought for a moment, considering Blake's words. She sits right in her chair, placing her hands on the armrests of the chair. She gives Blake a surprisingly soft look and the black haired women nods at the blonde.

Releasing a held breath, Yang finally speaks. "All right, _'Dr. Belladona'_…" She swallows spit. "…We… We started to run, Ruby and I. After my mom said her goodbyes, I only had one thought on mind: keep Ruby safe. So, I picked her up… and I ran…"

* * *

**Past Time**

* * *

**It all happened so quickly. Just earlier that day, the little red girl and her sister had been enjoying the older sister's return home after being gone for so long. She and Song spent the day cooking up a feast for Yang would devour without a second thought. Their father was laughing as he teased the hotheaded mother about secretly missing Yang all this time. The little red girl had looked forward to this day since the moment Yang had left for Beacon.**

**Everything was supposed to be perfect… How did it come to this…? Two sister's, happy to see each other once more, now more concerned about getting out of a city on fire alive… a city they called home…**

The young blonde ran through the streets of the once peaceful town with her small sister under arm. Ruby hadn't moved since her futile cries for their mother and father died out. Now she hung limply from Yang's arm as if life had left her body.

Yang's free hand grabbed at the terrible wound on her side, blood still pouring at a dangerous pace. The long, talon-like feather remained pierced through her abdomen, but the pain was ignored. Right now, Yang was doing everything she could to focus on getting Ruby out of this hellhole. She had to, otherwise the pain from her wound would cripple her.

But there were other ways for Yang to ignore the pain also.

As she ran, she couldn't help but to notice her surroundings as she dashed. Everything had gone completely chaotic. Citizen ran anyway they could, panicking at the situation, probably unaware of what was truly happening, Yang not having any better clue, to be honest. All she and the other citizens knew was that things got bad really fast.

She looked to her side to see a shop door had burst open and a man began to dash out. However, before he could get very far, something, Yang couldn't tell what, reached out and grabbed the poor man by his neck, dragging him back into the darkness screaming for help. Yang's breath hitched in her throat at the terrifying sight. The last thing she sees before running away faster was a sickening amount of blood shoot out from the shadows.

"Guh!"

A few people running by her in the opposite shoved her out of the way violently. She turned back, seeing them tripping over themselves trying to run. In fact, it looked as if they were trying to get away from something.

She hears a bone chilling howl ring out from behind her, her eyes widen and she quickly looks back. "Oh my god…!"

It was hard to really get a good sight of it, but four black shadow-like creatures were dashing down the street right at her. For a moment, she could feel herself almost panicking. However, just as quickly, she forced herself to regain her composure and think quickly. She had to move. Whatever was coming at her, she didn't want to deal with it.

Swiftly, she took Ruby and got behind one of the many abandoned cars that littered street. She places her back up against it and cradles Ruby with her body. It was only a mere seconds, but the moment felt never ending as she waited for what would happen next, not knowing if what she did was smart or not. In the heat of the moment, she really only did the first thing that came to mind: hide. And pray that those beasts running down the streets weren't targeting her.

A whoosh from above causes her to hold Ruby tighter. She realizes that was the sound of one of the beasts jumping over the car she hid behind, not even noticing her. More sounds come from each of her sides, growls and the sound of cars being hit reaching her ears.

"No! NO! AHH!"

She heard people screaming in front of her. She was far too scared to open her eyes. Her fear trumped her curiosity at the moment. The sound of flesh being torn by animal like monsters did nothing to change that. Soon enough, the screams simmered down to gurgles of futile begging and prayers, then died to nothing.

A moment later, the beasts she knew where in front of her howled again, then continued their run down the street, probably looking for their next victims. She still sat there, curled up, holding her baby sister for a little longer. Everything seemed to calm down a little. She could still hear howls and screams, but they seemed so distant now.

Finally, she musters up enough courage to open her eyes. Slowly, she looks around, still unsure about moving from her spot. No people. No monsters. Nothing. She and Ruby were alone.

"Okay…" she says before looking down at Ruby. "Ruby…" she shakes the younger girl who clung to her lower half. "Ruby, look at me." She does, lifting her head to look Yang in the eyes.

It made Yang flinch a little at seeing Ruby's eyes. They were dim, baggy. It was as if the kid wanted to cry, but was so distant from everything happening at the moment at the same time. If Yang hadn't carried Ruby, she doubted the kid would even be able to move on her own.

Yang swallows spit then cuffs Ruby's face. "Ruby, we need to keep moving. Okay? I'm gonna need you to use those two feet of yours, though. I'd love to keep carrying you, but I'm not exactly feeling too hot right now." Yang sighs, putting her head to Ruby's. "I know you're scared. Believe me, I do. But I'm still here, right? You trust me, don't you? Don't you?"

Yang nods her head, trying to get Ruby to copy her. She does and Yang forces a smile.

"So you know I'm not lying when I say we'll be okay, right?" Ruby nods slightly, hesitantly. "I need to hear it, Ruby. Go on, say it."

Ruby sniffles before speaking. "I…I trust you…"

"Say _'we're gonna be okay'_. Say _'we're gonna get out of here, and then get some nice, hot cookies'_."

"W…We're gonna…" Her voice cracks, tears dancing on the rims of her eyes. "We're gonna be okay… We're… gonna get out of… out of here… and then… and then…" The tears start to fall from her eyes. Her body shakes as she cries and tries her best to finish talking.

"Finish it Ruby. Come on, sis, I know you can do it. Say it for me, Ruby."

Ruby shakes her head, her lip quivering. "And then… And then… And then get some… nice… hot…" A hiccup. "…cookies…"

Yang nods, biting her lip. She pulls Ruby closer and kisses her forehead. "I'll make em' just how you like them. Dark chocolate chips…"

"…And… hot milk…"

Yang pushes Ruby back and looks her in the eyes. "Okay… you ready?"

Ruby looks Yang back in the eye. Her eyes wander down to her sister's abdomen, unable to ignore the bloody wound, still fresh.

"Hey!" Yang snaps Ruby back to focusing on her face. "Don't worry about that. I'm gonna be alright. It's just a flesh wound. Are you ready?"

Ruby closes her eyes, breathing deeply. Her hands wipe away the tears streaming down her face. She opens her eyes and gives Yang the bravest look she can muster up, nodding. "I-I'm ready…"

Yang nods. She looks around the area, trying to find the next place to run to. She spots an open alley way on the left.

"It's gonna be a run for that alley, got it. You stay on my ass no matter what, okay?"

"S…Swear…"

Yang can't help but smirk. "Whatever… All right… On 3…" She takes one last look around then focuses on the alleyway. "…3!"

They sprint across the street, making a b-line for the alley. Yang has Ruby's hand firmly clasped in her own. The running puts stress on her wound, but she doesn't have time to worry about that.

They reach the alley and keep running through it, dodging trashcans and pools of water on the ground. Ruby gasps loudly at getting a better look at those _"pools of water"._ Whatever she stepped in was not clear, but dark red and much thicker than water.

"Ruby!" The young girl snaps her gaze to Yang as they ran. "Just keep looking forward! Don't worry about anything else! Keep running!"

There was a sort of urgency in Yang's voice. Something was wrong. As they pass by a dark intersection in the alleyway, something caught her eye and Ruby couldn't help but do a double take at the alley they just passed.

She wasn't sure and it freaked her out… but… she could swear she just saw glowing red eyes. And… equally red teeth…

Another intersection. Now she was sure of what she saw: the same thing only doubled this time. She starts to realize Yang sounded so panicked now. And, as if they knew she'd figured out how much danger she and Yang were in, whatever was stalking them starting to make sounds. Howls that sounded like…

…laughter…

"Yang…!" she says on the verge of freaking out.

"Keep running!" Yang yells back.

She wanted run faster, but her body physical would not let her. She knew for a fact there was something behind her and it, or rather, _they _were chasing the two sisters down. She somehow knew that they could've been caught a long time ago. She somehow knew they should already be dead by now.

They were being taunted: food being played with before getting devoured.

They exit the alleyway, a wall of forest before them. They didn't stop running. This was obviously the last place they wanted to end up, but they didn't have much of a choice in where to run anymore. So, they ran through the shrubbery, dodging hanging branches, maneuvering around oncoming trees. The laughter only grew louder. They were surrounded.

"Shit, shit, shit…!" Yang was trying her best to keep her panic low so Ruby wouldn't hear, but it proved useless. There was no hiding her fear at this point.

Ruby's started to hyperventilate. It wasn't even from all the running. No, this was from the fear of being caught by what was after them. She desperately looked around, hoping to maybe get an idea of where their enemy was. She could barely see anything in the darkness of the forest night. She just needed to see the eyes. Those would be easy to spot. If she could just see them…

She got her wish… as they were right in her face, behind a pashing bush.

"Ruby!"

She barely had time to gasp before a claw slashed at her, tearing into the flesh of her neck and shoulder. Yang pulled her out of reach in the nick of time, pulling Ruby into her chest, jumping back. At the same time, she extended one of free arm out, and the band around her wrist extended over her forearm, the sound of a gun being cocked accompanying the transformation.

_Bang!_

A blast shot out from the gauntlet, impacting the shadowy creature that jumped from the bush, it letting out a deafening howl of pain. Yang hangs on to Ruby, bracing for the impact on the ground. They tumble of a steep hill and start to fall. The whole time, Yang used her body to take the brunt of the blows as they fell down the hill. They finally reach the bottom, rolling from the momentum of the fall.

_Pow!_

The rolling is stopped when Yang's back hits a large rock at the bottom of the hill. Not wasting a moment, she puts her gauntlet up, aiming forward, ready for an attack.

Nothing happens. There is nothing but silence, save her ragged breaths. Her eyes scan the area, fierce, determined to destroy anything that tried to hurt her baby sister.

But still… nothing happens.

The adrenaline from the encounter subsides. In its place, immense pain comes and she keels over, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut. Ruby sits up, alarmed.

"Y-Yang!" The blonde almost falls to her side, but Ruby catches her before she can. "No-No-No! Yang, don't do this me! You have to tell me what to do! Tell me what to do, Yang! Come on, Yang! Yang!"

**And from there, we fade to black...**

* * *

**Thank you all so much for reading this installment of Grimm Tales! I'm really sorry for the longer wait on this one. Really hate making you guys wait. The crazy part is, this was actually only the first half of what was actually gonna be a 60 PAGE CHAPTER that would make up "A Tale of Scars". But no one in their right mind what read that long a chapter and not punch a wall, or something. I think ending it here is probably for the best.**

**But, whatever. Like I said before, thank you all for joining me again for another tale, and thanks so much for all the support! I'd really appreciate you guy's reviews on the story so far. I read every single one of them, so you won't be wasting your time. All feedback helps me out big time! And if you liked the story, go to my deviantART page for great art related to the story, and/or my Tumblr Page for cool behind the scenes stuff. **

**Well, until the next chapter! I'll see you bootyful people on the flip side!**

**Stay Happy!**

**Darkesper**


End file.
